The New York Yankees tied a four-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays to start the week.
They managed to win the series finale on Thursday, with a 3-0 score at Yankee Stadium.
Watching the score, one would think the Yankees’ pitching didn’t have much trouble dealing with the powerful Jays lineup.
And that was true, for the most part, except for the ninth inning.
Aroldis Chapman, the Yanks’ closer, was given the ball to earn the save, but proceeded to walk Cavan Biggio, Santiago Espinal, and Matt Chapman to load the bases with no outs.
A Good Call By Boone
Manager Aaron Boone didn’t hesitate to pull his closer at that point, bringing in right-hander Mike King.
King proceeded to freeze George Springer for strike three to get the first out, and then induced Bo Bichette to hit a soft liner to second base that DJ LeMahieu caught, and then he threw to first to double off the runner, thus ending the game.
It was Chapman’s first rocky outing of the year, but he understood that, in order for the Yankees to win, taking him out was a move that needed to be done.
“‘It worked out. A good decision there’ – Aroldis Chapman on getting pulled by Aaron Boone in the 9th inning,” he told New York media after the game, per SNY’s Twitter account.
"It worked out. A good decision there"
– Aroldis Chapman on getting pulled by Aaron Boone in the 9th inning pic.twitter.com/UWZ022GFnM
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 15, 2022
Ever since MLB banned the use of spider tack or any other sticky substances on the ball to pitchers, Chapman’s command, especially on his fastball, hasn’t been the same.
He has been able to navigate through the issue, and remains effective more often than not.
But when he doesn’t have his fastball command, things like we saw yesterday happen.
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