Yankees avoid being swept by Phillies as bullpen backs Carlos Rodon
Yankees relief pitcher Devin Williams hugs catcher Austin Wells after defeating the Philadelphia Phillies at Yankee Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Brad Penner
A beaten-up and beleaguered bullpen — which general manager Brian Cashman is aggressively trying to upgrade before Thursday’s trade deadline — came through on an afternoon the Yankees desperately needed it to succeed.
After Carlos Rodon departed with a one-run lead in the sixth inning, the bullpen closed out the Phillies for the final 3 2⁄3 innings of a 4-3 victory Sunday in front of 45,612 at the Stadium that kept the Yankees from being swept in the three-game series.
“That’s what you want it to look like,” Aaron Boone said of the combination of Jonathan Loaisiga, Luke Weaver, Tim Hill and Devin Williams, who retired 11 of 12 batters. “Really good, against a good lineup, to have four guys go out and kind of really slam it down.”
The Yankees (57-48), who scored all of their runs in the second inning and saw one of their newest additions, third baseman Ryan McMahon, deliver the key hit in the frame, pulled within 5 1⁄2 games of the AL East-leading Blue Jays.
Rodon left with one out in the sixth and his team leading 4-3. Loaisiga retired the first batter he faced, allowed a two-out hit and struck out Otto Kemp swinging at a 98-mph fastball. Kemp already had homered twice, including a 434-foot drive onto the net above Monument Park.
The bullpen did not allow a baserunner the rest of the way, with Hill retiring the dangerous Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper in the eighth and Williams striking out two in a perfect ninth. Williams, deposed from the closer role after a rough April, has a 2.28 ERA and 15 saves in 16 chances since May 7.
“Sometimes all you need is to have things go your way one time and be able to get on a little bit of a roll,” said Williams, who was talking collectively about the bullpen but easily could have been talking about himself. “It was nice to see everyone putting up zeros today.”
Rodon (11-7, 3.18) allowed three runs, four hits and one walk with eight strikeouts. He allowed three solo homers, including one by Nick Castellanos.
Castellanos and Kemp homered in the top of the second to put the Yankees in a 2-0 hole, but they responded against Zack Wheeler (9-4, 2.56) in the bottom of the inning with four runs. “We all know how good Wheeler is, so pretty impressive for us to put up four runs against him,” Rodon said. “And then the bullpen came in and shut down the game.”
Wheeler struggled throughout with his command. He allowed four runs, five hits and two walks in 5 2⁄3 innings in which he struck out eight but also hit three batters (he threw 103 pitches, only 59 for strikes).
McMahon went 2-for-3, including a two-run double in the second that tied it at 2. He also made several standout defensive plays.
“At least on the surface, he looks settled and comfortable,” Boone said. “There’s an ease with which he plays the position. And again, I think he’s got some real offensive upside that hopefully continues to lengthen our lineup.”
The game more or less was decided in the second inning.
Castellanos led off by launching a 2-and-2 changeup to left for his 14th homer. Two batters later, Kemp drove a 1-and-2 slider to right-center for his third homer and a 2-0 lead.
Giancarlo Stanton quickly ignited things in the bottom half, a 29-pitch inning for Wheeler, with a sharp single to right that improved him to 16 for his last 46 (.348). Wheeler hit Jazz Chisholm Jr. on his right foot with a sweeper and Jasson Dominguez in the midsection with a cutter to load the bases with none out. McMahon then grounded a 2-and-1 curveball over first base and down the rightfield line for a two-run double to tie it at 2-2.
Anthony Volpe struck out, but Austin Wells lifted a sacrifice fly to left. Trent Grisham then grounded a first-pitch splitter into rightfield for an RBI single that made it 4-2.
Bellinger tripled to lead off the third but was thrown out at the plate when Chisholm lined to centerfielder Johan Rojas. J.T. Realmuto leaped to grab Rojas’ high throw home and made a quick tag on Bellinger, who slid feet-first and tried to touch the plate with his left hand.
With runners on second and third and two outs in the fifth, Bellinger ran down Schwarber’s bid for an extra-base hit to preserve a 4-3 lead.
“Did enough today,” Rodon said. “Obviously, wish I was better on some pitches there to a couple of guys, but they had some good swings and did enough to win today.”
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.
