Andrew Heaney had the looks of a trade bust in his first three outings with the Yankees, allowing 15 runs over 15 innings for a bloated 9.00 ERA.
But on Sunday, in the home run-friendly confines of Yankee Stadium, the lefty turned in his best start in pinstripes and one of his best of the season to help the Yanks complete the sweep of the Red Sox and take control of the first Wild Card spot.
“Got some very timely ground balls and avoided some trouble,” Heaney said. “Had a couple leadoff walks to innings, and a lot of times those are the ones that will kill you. Just avoided trouble.”
Heaney turned in seven innings of one-run ball, holding a solid but struggling Boston offense to just two hits to lead New York to its sixth straight victory, and gave Heaney some much-needed reinforcement that he could find success in the Bronx, even if his new home ballpark seems like a potentially tough fit for a pitcher susceptible to the long ball.
“I just want to help the team win,” Heaney said. “We’re going for a sweep there against a team that’s been in front of us. Obviously we’ve had some longer games with our bullpen needing to catch a breather. Just trying to do what I can.”
Heaney entered his start having already allowed eight home runs in his short Yankee tenure, half of them coming in his debut against the Orioles on Aug. 2. It looked like he was in for more of the same when he surrendered a solo shot to Xander Bogaerts in the top of the first, but this time, Heaney settled down and didn’t budge the rest of the way.
“That kind of feels like a recurring theme here where I give up a homer,” Heaney said. “Not a horrible pitch honestly…from there, it’s just about sticking with the game plan.”
The game plan worked through his next six innings of work, and for the first time since being traded from the Angels, Heaney walked off the mound to a standing ovation from the Yankee Stadium crowd.
“Honestly, a lot of times when I’m walking off the field, I’m just focused on just looking in the dugout, getting down the stairs and high-fiving my teammates,” Heaney said. “A lot of the other stuff kind of shuts out a little bit. But it’s hard to miss it when, I don’t know how many people were here, but it seemed like everyone was cheering.
“It was more of a feeling than a sound I guess, but it was a really good feeling. I did my job tonight to give us a chance to win. With this lineup that we have and this team, you just have to give those guys a chance, because they’re gonna put up runs.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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