Devin Williams entered the first half of the eighth inning and wanted to keep the Yankees up in a one-run match against one of the most dangerous parts of the deep set-up of Toronto.
And he threw his first throw to squeeze Hitter Addison Barger to the backstop.
But instead of another disaster of the right-handed after his last implosion in Houston on Wednesday, Williams offered a huge scoreless inning in a 4-3 victory over the Blue Jays who brought the Yankees back within two games of first place.
It was not easy, because Barger hit a single and then stole second with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. On the plate.
Guerrero, always a tough out, has been particularly hot lately.
He came in with 10 hits in his previous four games and added two earlier on Sunday, but Williams let him swing with a 3-2 change for the first zero.
Alejandro Kirk followed with a groundout and after a walk to Ernie Clement, Williams Ty France got on a ground ball to third place.
‘He had to go through the heart [of the order]”” Said Aaron Boone about Williams. “He has had bad luck. He has had a number of tough games and some difficult moments, but he has the opportunity to get really good batters in big places. Today was huge.”
The turning point was the strikeout of Guerrero.
Williams said about the battle: “I attacked the zone … tried to make him hit something on the right.”
Instead, he played him with his best throw, something that would not have been surprising when he was one of the best relievers in baseball in Milwaukee, but that was less certainty because he had struggled with the Yankees for much of his first year.
“That’s what I do,” Williams said about throwing his patented change in a place. “I am going to do whatever happens, whatever the count is. I always have a lot of faith in it.”
And he had faith in the challenge of being ahead of Guerrero.
“I like myself in every matchup,” said Williams. “But that is what it came up with. That is what I got on the task today, and I was happy that I could get it done.”
It was the second consecutive day that the bullpen followed a strong start in a tight game with a solid performance.
Luke Weaver, Fernando Cruz and David Bednar combined to throw three scoreless innings after the strong start of Luis Gil on Saturday and Williams and Bednar received two shutout frames after Max Fried’s seven innings in Sunday’s final.
Perhaps the Bullpen, which, despite several major additions, has not met expectations, is finally completed in form.
“As a unit, we are much better than the results we have received,” said Williams. “The only thing needed is that everyone gets hot at the right time and it will be a lockdown bullpen.”
That is what the Yankees count on the play and – they hope – in October.
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