The Yankees lost a crucial game to the Blue Jays on Wednesday, losing a game of cushion on the Red Sox for the top Wild Card spot, but they did get back a crucial bullpen piece, who looked like his typical self in his first game back.
Jonathan Loaisiga took the mound for the first time since Sept. 3 and turned in a scoreless seventh inning after the Yanks had just tied the game, and while Bo Bichette eventually won it for Toronto with a solo shot off Clay Holmes in the bottom of the eighth, it was a hopeful return for New York’s best reliever.
“I got to thank God for allowing me to come back this season and allowing me to be healthy once again,” Loaisiga said through his interpreter. “I just wanted to attack hitters and execute my pitches as best I could.”
Loaisiga, holding a 2.22 ERA on the season, is the Yanks’ most valuable bullpen arm with Chad Green struggling with the long ball, Aroldis Chapman laboring on and off since his historic start to the season, and Zack Britton lost for the year. With just five games to go and a playoff spot on the line, the later innings will be crucial for the Yanks against tough Toronto and Tampa Bay lineups, meaning Loaisiga’s return couldn’t have come at a better time.
“I enjoyed it very much,” Loaisiga said. “A while back I was asked if I prefer to be a starter or reliever, and I told them I wanted to be a reliever. I wanted to be in big-time situations. I enjoy the adrenaline when you come into the game and it’s a tie game.”
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Loaisiga needed just 12 pitches to get through his first inning of work in nearly a month, statting off with a strikeout of George Springer before forcing Marcus Semien and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to ground out to make quick work of one of the toughest stretches of a lineup in all of baseball. He topped out at 99 mph on his fastball, showing no signs of trouble in his shoulder, which was likely a huge relief for a Yankee team that will need Loaisiga at his best to finish their playoff push.
“I got activated today and you move on from the injury,” Loaisiga said. “The injury is now in the past. We have an opportunity to pitch here and help the team in extremely important games coming up, and I’m gonna be ready to help the team in any way possible.
“Those have been situations I’ve been in. when I came in, it was a tie ballgame, and like I said, you know how important that inning is when you come in and the game is on the line.”
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