Yankees 4, Tigers 2: Bullpen bails out Gerrit Cole with brilliant night

It’s awfully difficult to win when your ace is knocked out of the ballgame in the second with the early lead on the line already.

It’s awfully difficult to win when your struggling offense is gifted said lead thanks to terrible opposing defense and fails to build on it despite numerous opportunities.

However, Yankees manager Aaron Boone can thank his lucky stars that the vast majority of his pitching staff continues to carry this ballclub. Clarke Schmidt threw 3.1 brilliant innings of long relief after Gerrit Cole exited early, and the four-reliever parade that followed limited Detroit to just a single hit and no runs in the final four frames. The game was more tense than it needed to be, but the New York bullpen really came through in a 4-2 victory.

In a more just world, the Yankees’ offense would have continued the trend from their weekend in Baltimore and squandered another prime opportunity with runners on base right at the evening’s outset. The suddenly-hot Aaron Hicks had led off with a single and with one out, Anthony Rizzo walked to move him into scoring position. But Giancarlo Stanton chased a bad pitch from Tyler Alexander for strike three, and after DJ LeMahieu walked to load the bases, Josh Donaldson blew what was once a 3-0 count by popping up on 3-2.

The inning should have been over. Then, just a few seconds later, it suddenly wasn’t.

The error was charged on Alexander, but catcher Tucker Barnhart didn’t exactly cover himself in glory, either. The wind was blowing 19 mph at first pitch, so this wasn’t normal weather; still, that should have been caught. The Yankees took a 2-0 lead on an absolute gift.

Alexander ended up throwing 42 pitches in that first inning, so manager A.J. Hinch played it safe early in the season and hooked him. In came Rony García, who did not take long to show that something was off. He walked Isiah Kiner-Falefa in an uncompetitive at-bat, and while he rebounded to strike out Kyle Higashioka (let’s face it — not an impressive feat), IKF stole second off him and García then slammed a pitch into the mound itself:

Kiner-Falefa moved to third on the politely-called “wild pitch,” García left the game with a cracked fingernail, and Hicks brought the run in on a sacrifice fly to make it a 3-0 affair.

As amusing as the beginning of the ballgame was for the Yankees, it was still, well, the beginning of the ballgame and merely a three-run lead. The top of the second was so long that Cole was throwing on the side of the field between Hinch’s pitching changes, and despite striking out the side in the first, his command was utterly nonexistent in the second.

With one on and one out, Cole faced the 7-8-9 hitters in the Tigers’ order and did this as the lineup turned over:

• Walk to Akil Baddoo
• Walk to Tucker Barnhart
• Walk to Willi Castro to score a run
• Sacrifice fly to Robbie Grossman on a 3-2 count
• Walk to Austin Meadows

That was it for Cole after a 46-pitch slog in that inning alone and a matched career-worst with five walks. He had no grip on the ball, and couldn’t figure out a way to get back under control, even as other pitchers managed to do so on the same night. It was excruciating to watch, like a supercut of every single Theon Greyjoy torture scene from the third season of “Thrones,” except it’s your job to describe every single element of pain. The man paid to be ace of the pitching staff simply has to do better.

As the game progressed, the 26-year-old Schmidt turned himself into the story of the game on the mound. After fanning Jonathan Schoop to preserve the one-run lead in relief of Cole, he embarked on three more shutout innings, striking out a total of six batters along the way. Schmidt allowed a walk and two hits, but still got the game back under control.

It’s been a long road for Schmidt since undergoing Tommy John surgery just before being selected by the Yankees in the first round of the 2017 MLB Draft. He’s battled further injuries that have hindered his development, and it’s taken him quite some time to carve out a real path to contributing at the major league level. The 2022 season is young, but this was the best sign yet that Schmidt may be on his way to securing that elusive roster spot (even after rosters return to 26 in May). Some players don’t really earn their first big-league win due to the odd workings of the statistic, but Schmidt unquestionably deserved his W.

Schmidt’s excellence turned out to be sorely-needed bullpen help because — shocker of shockers — the Yankees’ offense disappeared after plating that third run. Opportunities with runners in scoring position went by the wayside in the fourth ... and then the fifth ... and then the seventh. It wasn’t any one batter providing all the zeroes, either — this was a combination of ineptitude that spread from the actually-decent 2022 performers (LeMahieu, Stanton, Aaron Judge) to the disappointments (Joey Gallo, who went a grueling 0-for-4 with a quartet of strikeouts) to the unsurprising letdowns (Higashioka).

Back in the better portion of the ballgame for the Bombers, Wandy Peralta did his part with four outs of quality relief, and he gave way to the normally reliable Clay Holmes. Instead of taking after Schmidt and Peralta though, Holmes nearly went down the Cole path (imagine telling someone a year ago that this choice would be bad on any given night). Schoop walked, Jeimer Candelario lined a single, and Holmes uncorked a wild pitch to put the tying run on third and the go-ahead run in scoring position with still just one out.

Josh Donaldson might have continued his sluggish start at the plate in 2022 on Tuesday, but to his credit, he has not let it affect his defense. He proved that when Miguel Cabrera hit a dribbler that could have scored Schoop had Donaldson not fired a seed home for the second out:

Expertly executed, including the tag at home by Higashioka. Holmes got the final out himself, returning to form by striking out top prospect Spencer Torkelson.

Miguel Castro kept the good bullpen vibes going with a perfect eighth, maintaining his 0.00 ERA on the season across six games since coming over from Queens shortly before Opening Day. The Yankees were seemingly so pleased that they actually plated an insurance run at long last in the ninth, when after a Hicks walk and stolen base, LeMahieu came through with a two-out single.

The Yankees now had a two-run lead, and Aroldis Chapman thankfully turned in a Jekyll performance rather than his occasional Hyde (as glimpsed in his last two outings). Grossman, Meadows, and Schoop went down in order, preserving the 4-2 triumph. The offense still needs to perform better with the opportunities handed to them, but at least the bullpen saved the day on Tuesday night.

Luis Severino gets the ball tomorrow against old Boston foe Eduardo Rodriguez. First pitch is once again a little earlier than normal at 6:40pm.

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