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Paul Blackburn served up a walk-off single to Cal Raleigh on Monday night.
Fans of the New York Yankees everywhere were beside themselves watching Aaron Boone trust Paul Blackburn to face AL MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh with the game on the line Monday night.
Yet, the Yankees manager defended his decision despite the fact the Yankees long reliever allowed a walk-off single in their first loss of the season, 2-1, to the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park.
Blackburn had thrown a scoreless eighth inning but took the loss after allowing three hits in the ninth, including Raleigh’s game-ending single past first baseman Ben Rice that scored Luis Rivas.
Aaron Boone Explained His Decision to Stick With Paul Blackburn
The entire Yankees bullpen was rested after a rare Sunday off day. But that may have prompted Boone to go to his bullpen early after Ryan Weathers giving New York just 4 1/3 innings of one-run, four-hit ball where he struck out seven.
Blackburn was the Yankees’ sixth pitcher Monday, since Boone had used Fernando Cruz, Brent Headrick, Jake Bird and Camilo Doval.
Doval got Mariners No. 3 hitter Julio Rodriguez to ground out to second to end the seventh inning, but Boone went to Blackburn because he didn’t want Doval to have to come out and warm up on the chilly night in Seattle.
“I felt like that was kind of the game right there,” Boone said. “I felt like I liked Blackburn behind him with a clean inning through the bottom [of the lineup].”
Blackburn pitched around a two-out walk in the eighth inning, and Boone sent him back out for the ninth to face the Mariners’ Nos. 8, 9 and 1 hitters.
“I thought he threw the ball well,” Boone said. “[He pitched a] clean eighth there. With the tie, and being a little short [in the bullpen], I liked him through the bottom of the order there.
Boone credited Blackburn’s ability to get ground balls — six of his seven batters faced hit the ball on the ground.
“They found the holes with a couple of balls there,” Boone said. “I thought [Blackburn] managed contact, getting them on the ground.”
Rivas led off the ninth with a single past rice then moved to third on Brendan Donovan’s bouncing-ball single up the middle.
With one out, Raleigh, who had pinch hit for DH Dominic Canzone in the eighth inning, ripped a 2-1 single, ending the game. The Yankees had Ryan Yarbrough ready but stuck with Blackburn against the MVP runner-up.
“They found a couple holes and beat us,” Boone said.
Ryan Weathers Was Inefficient in His First Yankees Start
The seven strikeouts will jump out of the box score at fans, but the Yankees starter could have had more.
Both of his walks came on full counts, including in the second inning when Weathers was ahead 0-2 on catcher Mitch Garver in the second inning before losing him. That set up runners on first and second with two outs for Cole Young, who drove in the first run with a single.
Weathers exited for Cruz with runners on second and third and one out in the fifth inning, after getting ahead of Rivas 1-2 and failing to put him away before allowing a leadoff single. Still, the lefty earned his manager’s praise.
“I thought he was good,” Boone said. “[He was] able to get into the fifth [inning]. I thought he kind of got better as he went along. They got back-to-back batters on before I took him out there, but overall I think he threw the ball pretty well.”
Pat Pickens is an experienced sports writer and media personality who has written for outlets like NHL.com, the Associated Press, the New York Times and USA Today. He covers the NFL, NBA, NHL and NBA as a breaking news contributor at Heavy. More about Pat Pickens
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