Just another in a series of nail-biting wins for the Yankees
Chad Green #57 and Kyle Higashioka #66 of the Yankees celebrate after defeating the Los Angeles Angels at Yankee Stadium on Monday, Aug. 16, 2021. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Once his shift is over, as it was in the sixth inning Monday night at Yankee Stadium, Gerrit Cole isn’t much different from everyone watching from home.
Another tight game for the bullpen. More rallies squandered. Victory hanging by the slimmest of margins. Aaron Boone piecing things together after Cole’s departure.
In other words, a day ending in "y’’ for the Yankees.
"Nerve-wracking" is how Cole described those last 10 outs.
The one positive is that the Yankees are pretty good living on the edge. Better than anyone else in baseball, actually. They escaped with a 2-1 win over the Angels that pushed their MLB-best record to 43-23 in games decided by two or fewer runs. Maybe it helps that they’ve played in the most, too, including nine of their last 11.
Joey Gallo is fairly new to all this fingernail-chewing, white-knuckle drama. So when he launched a two-run blast into the second deck in rightfield in the first inning — his third homer in the last three games — he figured the Yankees were just getting warmed up. Even after wearing pinstripes for a little over two weeks, Gallo probably should know better by now.
"I thought it was a pretty big home run," said Gallo, who has reached base in 16 of his 17 games with the Yankees. "I didn’t realize it’d be the game-winning home run, but that’s how baseball goes. You got to get those runs when you can. It was pretty electric. It was one of the coolest home runs I’ve had."
Getting Gallo and Anthony Rizzo on board was supposed to trigger an offensive avalanche after the trade deadline. But Rizzo wound up on the COVID IL a week after his arrival, and the Yankees still haven’t been able to create much separation from opponents, oddly enough. Good preview for a potential playoff berth, anyway.
"Here, every day in the clubhouse, every day on the field, there’s a certain energy where every pitch counts," Gallo said. "You never know which run can be the winning run."
Cole was just thrilled to get one more than the other guys. On this particular night, he delivered a strong 5 2⁄3 innings in his return from the COVID-19 injured list, striking out nine and surrendering the lone run on Justin Upton’s two-out homer in the first.
Seeing that was certainly a huge relief for the Yankees, now confident that their $324 million ace seems fine. What followed him, however, carried even more intrigue, starting with using the skittish Zack Britton — 10.13 ERA, two blown saves in last four appearances — to finish off the sixth by whiffing Jared Walsh.
"The important thing is, he’s great at this," Aaron Boone said. "This is a guy that’s been elite for a long time and it’s just making sure he understands that as he kind of works through this. I do believe it’s something that as he continues to get out there, it’s going to click for him and he should be able to take off from there."
Next was Albert Abreu for five outs before Joely Rodriguez was called upon to face Shohei Ohtani in what essentially was the game in the eighth. Ohtani, the MLB’s home run leader with 39, came within a few feet of tying the score in the sixth with a sky-high shot off Cole that landed in the glove of Giancarlo Stanton at the warning track. But he never made contact against Rodriguez, who froze him with a 94-mph sinker.
"That’s the matchup we wanted," Boone said. "The guy we want seeing lefties, and Ohtani is obviously as good as it gets from the left side."
With no Aroldis Chapman and Britton losing his gig as backup closer, it was up to Chad Green, who hasn’t exactly been his reliable self either. The only suspense on this night, however, was Walsh’s two-out single as Green caught Phil Gosselin looking at a 97-mph fastball on the outside edge of the plate for the final out.
Had it all the way. Piece of cake.
"I definitely think that this could be like a springboard for us going forward," Green said. "A lot of guys stepped up. There’s some big innings tonight. Hopefully it’s something that we can lean on moving forward."
It was another nerve-rattling W, and now the Yankees have won 15 of 20 with the Red Sox showing up in the Bronx for Tuesday’s doubleheader. Expect more of the same.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
