Yankees' lineup hits snag as Mariners walk them off
The Yankees' Aaron Judge hits a single against the Seattle Mariners during the eighth inning of a game Monday in Seattle. Credit: AP/Lindsey Wasson
SEATTLE — Yankees pitchers made it four straight games to start the season with an overall standout performance.
The same could not be said for the offense.
On a 48-degree Monday night at T-Mobile Park with wind chills in the low 40s, righthander Luis Castillo and four Mariners relievers kept Yankees bats chilled throughout in sending them to a 2-1 walk-off loss for their first setback of the season.
“We just weren’t able to build much offense tonight,” Aaron Boone said.
The Yankees (3-1), coming off a three-game sweep of the Giants in San Francisco, were held to five hits. They went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position with six left on base while the Mariners (3-2), who had quite a few more chances, went 3-for-11 with 11 left on base.
Seattle at last came through in such a situation with one out in the bottom of the ninth when Cal Raleigh, who came up short in a first-and-third-one-out scoring chance in the seventh when lefthander Brent Headrick struck him out on a splitter, ripped a game-winning single off Paul Blackburn down the rightfield line to win it.
Yankees pitchers, who allowed a combined 13 hits and seven walks in 27 innings in the three games against the Giants with 27 strikeouts and a 0.33 ERA, nonetheless had another strong night, even as lefty starter Ryan Weathers lasted just 4 1/3 innings in his Yankees debut after coming over in the offseason via trade from the Marlins.
“Unbelievable,” catcher Austin Wells said of the pitching staff collectively. “Those guys came in ready. Had a great spring and have carried it on to the first [few] games here. They’re all pitching really, really well.”
Weathers, though battling his command, allowed one run and four hits. He walked two, including Mariners leadoff man Brendan Donovan to start the bottom of the first, and struck out seven.
“I think definitely nerves in the first [inning],” said Weathers, whose father, David, also pitched for the Yankees. “Just a new team, just really excited to throw, and I got a little bit out of myself in the first. Bounced back well in the first and felt I threw the ball well from there on out.”
Weathers was bettered by Castillo, who came in with a 2.74 ERA in seven career starts against the Yankees and allowed two hits over six scoreless innings on Monday. He walked two and struck out seven.
“I didn’t touch anything from him so ask somebody else,” Wells, who struck out twice in two at-bast against Castillo, said with an ever-so-slight grin about what made the pitcher so tough on this night.
Thrilled to see anyone but Castillo on the mound, the Yankees rallied in the seventh against lefthander Jose Ferrer. Ben Rice, who a year ago assuredly would have been pulled for a righty pinch hitter in such a circumstance, led off by stinging a single to center. Giancarlo Stanton, off to a terrific start (8-for-16), followed with a ground shot that ate up Donovan, the third baseman, for an error. Jazz Chisholm Jr. grounded into a 4-6 force to put runners at the corners, and after Boone sent up lefty-killer Amed Rosario to pinch hit for Ryan McMahon, Mariners manager Dan Wilson brought in righthander Eduard Bozardo. Rosario’s sacrifice fly to center scored Rice, tying it at 1-1.
Stanton doubled with one out in the ninth off hard-throwing Mariners righty closer Matt Brash and pinch runner Randal Grichuk went to third on Chisholm’s groundout to second. But Brash struck out Rosario for the third out, setting up the Mariners’ winning rally in the ninth against Blackburn.
Leo Rivas led off with a single to right and, after Cole Young, who had three hits, flied out, the shortstop took third on Donovan’s single to right-center. Raleigh, who hit 60 homers last season in finishing runner-up to Aaron Judge in AL MVP voting, rifled a 2-and-1 cutter over the first base bag for the game-winner.
“They found holes with a couple of balls, they hit 'em sharp on the ground, but I thought he managed contact well getting them on the ground,” Boone said of Blackburn, who made his season debut in the eighth with a scoreless inning and came back out for the ninth. “I thought he threw the ball well … They found a couple of holes and beat us.”
Meanwhile, it was another strong night for the Yankees in their use of the ABS (automated ball-strike) system. They went 5-for-5 in challenges, including Rice, Stanton and Chisholm going 3-for-3 in back-to-back-to-back at-bats in the fourth inning to improve to 10-for-11 this season.
“Good on the guys for just hammering the strike zone right now,” Boone said.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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