Scott Effross was unavailable due to shoulder stiffness he felt after pitching Saturday, so Yankees manager Aaron Boone was going to try to “piece it together” at the end of Sunday’s game depending on where the score stood.
What that ended up entailing was, after Nestor Cortes went six innings of one-run ball, Boone needed three pitchers to get out of the seventh, Jonathan Loaisiga and Wandy Peralta getting one out each before Lou Trivino came in and got the final out In a huge spot – striking out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with the bases loaded and the score tied at two.
“We were just going to try and piece it together; but I didn’t have a couple guys available, so I was hoping Nestor could give us length and then maybe piece it together there with Lo and Trivino,” Boone said. “Once I had to get Wandy in there, I felt at least in that moment we forced them to use their bench a little bit.”
Indeed, Loaisiga allowed a single, a groundout, and a walk, and when Jays manager John Schneider went to the bench to have lefty Cavan Biggio hit for Santiago Espinal, Boone countered by bringing in Peralta – and Schneider countered again with George Springer.
A single, walk, and 5-2 forceout later, Boone went to Trivino with the bases loaded and a run in, and Trivino needed just three pitches to get Guerrero to ground out and end the inning, and he ended up on the winning side of the ledger when Andrew Benintendi homered in the bottom of the seventh to make it 4-2.
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Trivino came out for the eighth and sent the Jays down 1-2-3, and with no one warming in the bullpen, it looked like Lou – who was fresh after having both Thursday and Saturday off and throwing just nine pitches Friday – was coming out again with just 14 thrown in 1 1/3 so far.
“I didn’t expect him to go two-plus, but you can’t say enough about that effort from Lou,” Boone said. “I thought he threw the ball great in the biggest spot against Guerrero with the bases loaded to start things, then an efficient inning to allow him to go back out there for the ninth, and as long as he was holding up, I was going to ride him to the end.”
Lucas Luetge did get warm just in case, as the Jays had lefties Raimel Tapia and Jackie Bradley Jr. due up third and fourth (and only backup catcher Danny Jansen left on the righty side of the Jays’ bench), but Trivino needed just 18 more pitches to work around a one-out walk and finish the job.
As Suzyn Waldman said on the field, she’d have given Trivino both the win and the save for his effort – 2 1/3 innings, 32 pitches/19 strikes, one walk and one strikeout – and Lou was proud to do his part on a day where one of the biggest warriors in Yankees history, Paul O’Neill, saw his number retired.
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“It was great and I’m glad I could show up for my teammates,” Trivino told Suzyn. “We have been playing hard and it was great to come up with the win. We play hard, and it’s not for a lack of heart or lack of effort – we’re a talented team, in my opinion the best in the bigs.”
Trivino has now thrown nine innings as a Yankees over 11 appearances, and he has allowed just two runs (only one earned) to lower his overall ERA by more than a run (from 6.47 after his last A’s appearance to 5.27 after Sunday).
And, he got a little extra juice doing this on O’Neill’s day, where he got to see the reliever he (and many others) idolized in Mariano Rivera.
“Absolutely we felt it with the legends here and seeing that today, it gives you a leg up…but seeing Mariano Rivera in person was special for me,” Trivino said. “I idolized Mariano when I was a kid. He was the best in the business, and I loved how he went about his business. He’s just a pro’s pro.”
The win stemmed a three-game losing streak, as the Jays had won three straight to pull to within seven in the division. The Yankees went 2-8 in a 10-game stretch against division rivals and now have just five wins in 19 games in August, but Trivino, and the rest of the team, are hopeful this one can be a turning point as they head into a stretch where they host the Mets twice before a 10-game road trip to Oakland, Anaheim, and Tampa that could make or break the season.
“It’s just the beginning,” Trivino said. “We’re going to keep on going, and I’m excited.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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