BALTIMORE ¨C The telephone rang in the visitors¡¯ bullpen during the top of the eighth inning on Monday night, representing the Yankees¡¯ first call for Devin Williams since displacing him from the closer¡¯s role. With a three-run deficit, it felt like a low-stress opportunity for the right-hander to regain his dented confidence.
That changed when Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells drilled consecutive run-scoring doubles, making it a higher-leverage situation than manager Aaron Boone initially anticipated. Though the comeback stalled there, Williams held the line, tossing a spotless frame in the Yankees¡¯ 4-3 loss to the Orioles at Camden Yards.
¡°It¡¯s just little things here that can get your mojo and remind you just how darned good you are at this game,¡± Boone said. ¡°Hopefully, it¡¯s a step in the right direction.¡±
Williams was removed from the closer¡¯s role after a meltdown against the Blue Jays on Friday, in which he faced three batters and retired none, coughing up a one-run lead. It marked Williams¡¯ first blown save as a Yankee, though he¡¯d had other rough outings, including flushing a four-run advantage against the Rays in Tampa on April 19.
The dynamic fastball/changeup combination that made Williams a lethal late-inning option with the Brewers has been largely absent early in his Bombers tenure.
Entering Monday, opponents were hitting .462 off his four-seamer and .273 off the ¡°Airbender,¡± prompting Williams to remark of the demotion: ¡°With the way things have gone, it¡¯s not a shock to me. Being a closer is a position you have to earn, and you have to keep earning it to continue to be in that role.¡±
With Luke Weaver reinstalled for the ninth inning, a role he filled well last September and October, Williams¡¯ solid outing in Baltimore won¡¯t automatically restore his former title -- but it could be a launchpad toward getting there.
After striking out Ryan Mountcastle on four pitches, Williams won an eight-pitch battle with Heston Kjerstad by inducing a groundout to first base on a full count, then got Ram¨®n Ur¨ªas to pop out in a clean frame that prompted an enthusiastic reception from his teammates in the third-base dugout.
¡°I liked his look out there,¡± Boone said. ¡°He was aggressive in the strike zone, aggressive with his fastball. I thought every changeup he threw ¡ I liked the depth on the pitch, but also establishing his fastball and in the strike zone for us.¡±
¡°It¡¯s good for him to get outs; I think it¡¯s good for anybody to get outs,¡± said outfielder Trent Grisham.
The Yankees do expect Williams to reclaim the closer¡¯s role at some point, though his path back might be a meandering journey of assignments in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings ¨C some low-leverage spots, some save opportunities.
Williams said he felt the need to show ¡°conviction¡± once he returned to the mound. Had the next several minutes proceeded differently, there would have been much more to thump chests about.
Instead, New York went quietly against closer F¨¦lix Bautista, with Grisham popping out, then Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger both striking out. It was that kind of night for the Yankees, with plenty of swing and miss and a potential Paul Goldschmidt homer that landed in the glove of leaping center fielder Cedric Mullins.
The Yanks had few answers for right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano, who had tallied just nine strikeouts through his first 28 Major League innings spanning five starts.
Sugano¡¯s array of breaking and offspeed pitches stymied the Bombers, as the 35-year-old fanned a season-best eight over five scoreless innings. Goldschmidt¡¯s deep flyout came on the last pitch thrown by Sugano, who scattered five hits with one walk.
¡°We pressured him; we had some chances and just couldn¡¯t break through on him,¡± Boone said.
Entering play Monday, the Yankees were tied with the Reds for the third-most whiffs (35.1%) on breaking and offspeed pitches. Only the Rockies (39.6%) and Orioles (35.9%) had more.
Will Warren was knocked around in his sixth start of the season, lasting just 3 1/3 innings. Ram¨®n Laureano opened the scoring with an RBI double over Grisham¡¯s head in center in the second inning, a play on which Grisham said he got a good read but ¡°the ball was just in a different spot than I originally thought.¡±
Ryan O¡¯Hearn launched a three-run homer to right in the third off Warren, who issued back-to-back walks to open the frame and has a 5.63 ERA.
¡°It¡¯s been up and down,¡± Warren said. ¡°I think it¡¯s been a mix where you have some good ones in there and then ¡ overall, it¡¯s just about attacking in the zone.¡±