Aaron Boone, Brian Cashman and the Yankees thought they were outsmarting the Tampa Bay Rays.
Deivi Garcia, the 21-year-old right-hander, started Game 2 of the ALDS on Tuesday, but what was not expected was that he would only pitch one inning serving as an opener.
Instead, the Yankees opted to bring in J.A. Happ in the second inning in order to have the left-hander pitch against a lefty-dominant lineup that thought they were in store for Garcia.
It seemed as if the Yankees would outsmart the Rays at their own game, except the move fell flat.
Happ immediately struggled once he entered the game, allowing a two-out, two-run home run to No. 9 hitter Mike Zunino which allowed the Rays to take a 3-1 lead.
Things did not fare much better in the third inning. Happ walked Ji-Man Choi with one out then allowed another two-run home run, this time to Manuel Margot to give the Rays a 5-1 lead.
Happ escaped the inning after another single and a throwing error he committed, but not before the damage was done and left many second-guessing if the Yankees brass and coaching staff made the right decision using Garcia as an opener.
The Yankees did add on three more home runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning, courtesy of a 458-foot moonshot from Giancarlo Stanton, who also homered in the first and accounts for all the Yankees run.
Happ came back out for the fifth inning with the Yankees trailing just 5-4 and finished with a line of 2.2 innings pitched and four earned runs. Of course, the Bombers may still be able to salvage a win, but the strategy with the pitching is certainly going to be under scrutiny regardless of the outcome.
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