Yankees starting pitchers have combined for eight innings of giving up 15 runs in three ALDS games.
And yet they are still alive partly because of Aaron Judge and partly because the poor who followed Carlos Rodón on Tuesday night were up to the task — and in one case, to a task he had not attempted in two years.
“It’s all hands on deck now,” said Devin Williams, who has more than three outs in a game for the first time since Sept. 1, 2023.
Five Yankees relievers were called up—Fernando Cruz, Camilo Doval, Tim Hill, a tall Williams and a gutsy David Bednar—and all answered the call in putting together 6 ²/₃ scoreless innings in a 9-6 comeback win over the Blue Years in the Bronx.
When Rodón was drawn 6-1, the Yankees were 21 outs of elimination.
“I think everyone knows what the task at hand is [is]Bednar said.
“Stop the bleeding,” Cruz added. “We attacked them and let our guys do it.”
The Yankees lineup came alive as the bullpen recorded the final 20 outs, surrendering just three hits, walking none and throwing nine.
Cruz inherited a jam from Rodón and dropped a runner. He allowed a two-out single to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the fourth, and Doval—an option that had lost Boone’s confidence in the regular season—caused an Alejandro Kirk groundout to escape.
After Judge tied the game with his three-run homer in the fourth, and the bullpen made sure the offensive outburst would matter.
Hill inherited a runner on second from Doval in the fifth and threw out Addison Barger.
“We just did what we had to do,” Hill said.
Williams appeared in 67 games with the Yankees this season and was never asked for a second inning. After a 16-pitch seventh inning—which included becoming the first pitcher to retire Guerrero on the night—Williams returned for the eighth, in which he singled to Ernie Clement and then retired Anthony Santander.
Instead, when manager Aaron Boone told him, “We might need you here,” Williams was on board.
A pitcher who has not been popular in the Bronx then walked off the mound to a standing ovation as Bednar entered from the bullpen.
“That’s great,” Williams said. “It was definitely a lot better than what I’ve been hearing for much of the year.”
Williams passed the baton to Bednar, who had never pitched in the postseason before October and who induced a pair of ground outs to Strand Clement in the eighth before the most three outs of the game against the top of the lineup.
George Springer swung through a splitter. Nathan Lukes stared at a splitter that pinched the top of the zone. And Guerrero stood on a dive that took Rosario to third base, Bednar hugging Austin Wells as a breather was allowed in the Bronx.
“You want those shutdown innings, especially after the offense gets the momentum,” Bednar said, “and just keep handling the ball.”
– Additional reporting by Dan Martin
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