Yankees' pitching stellar in 4-2 Opening Day win over Brewers
The Yankees got home runs from Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe early and then survived a shaky outing by new closer Devin Williams in the ninth inning to hold on for a 4-2 Opening Day win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Yankee Stadium on Thursday.
The Yankees are 7-1 in their last eight Opening Days.
Here are the takeaways...
-After excellent pitching got the Yankees into the ninth inning, Williams, facing the team that traded him to the Yankees during the offseason, got into a major jam as the Brewers loaded the bases with no outs on a single, a double, and a walk, while trailing 4-1.
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Williams got one out on a deep sacrifice fly by Brice Turang. He then struck out Jackson Chourio swinging at his signature change-up.
Finally, he went to 3-2 to Christian Yelich before striking him swinging out with a 95-mph fastball to end the game.
-Carlos Rodon delivered a strong start, allowing only one run over 5.1 innings, on a third-inning home run by righthanded-hitting Vinny Capra.
Rodon looked sharp, mixing his mostly 95mph fastball with a slider and a change-up, as he recorded seven strikeouts and got 13 swings-and-misses. The lefthander allowed two walks, both in the sixth, the second on a 10-pitch at-bat by Rhys Hoskins that knocked Rodon out of the game with his pitch count at 89.
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Lefty Tim Hill came on to get out of the inning in what proved to be a crucial moment in the game. After an infield single loaded the bases with two outs, Hill got pinch-hitter Isaac Collins to ground out to short for a force-out, ending the inning with the Yankees leading 2-1 at the time.
-With a little bit of luck off the bat of Aaron Judge, the Yankees added to their lead with two runs in the seventh inning.
With runners at first and second, and one out, Judge hit a hard ground ball down the third-base line. Capra was in position to field the ball for at least a force-out at third but the ball bounced off the base and high over Capra's head, into shallow left field for an RBI double to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead.
Cody Bellinger followed with a sacrifice fly to right to make it 4-1.
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The fortunate bounce got Judge off the hook on what was looming as a bad day. He'd already gone 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and would have been looking at an 0-for-4 start to the season.
-The Yankee bullpen dominated until the ninth. Hill, Mark Leiter Jr., and Luke Weaver combined to get eight outs while allowing only two baserunners, on an infield single and a walk.
-Wells was already making history in the first inning by becoming the first catcher ever to hit leadoff for the Yankees, but then he quickly took it a step further when he lined a home run just over the right field wall off starter Freddy Peralta.
In doing so Wells also became the first catcher in major league history to hit a leadoff home run on Opening Day and also the first Yankee player with a leadoff home run on Opening Day.
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-Peralta gave up two Yankee Stadium home runs to the short porch in right field but otherwise threw a dominant five innings for the Brewers, racking up eight strikeouts and 14 swings-and-misses in his 92 pitches.
He finished in impressive style, striking out Judge swinging at a 96-mph high fastball, leaving runners at first and second.
-Chourio, the Brewers' young star outfielder, had a spectacular spring training, hitting .469 in 17 games, but he earned the dreaded platinum sombrero in the season opener, striking out in all five of his at-bats.
GAME MVP: CARLOS RODON
Pitching in what would have been Gerrit Cole's spot on Opening Day, Rodon gave the Yankees reason to believe they can survive without their ace.
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The left-hander pitched a mostly dominant 5.1 innings, holding the Brewers to one run on a home run by Capra.
Highlights
What's next
After an off day, the Yankees and Brewers meet again for the second of their three-game series in The Bronx. First pitch is set for 1:35 p.m.
Max Fried makes his Yankees debut against former Yankee Nestor Cortes.
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