The last time Lucas Luetge saw a “W” next to his name on a scorecard was back in 2013, when he was with the Mariners.
Regardless of how meaningful wins actually are for pitchers, getting credited with the victory on Friday night made that scorecard worth hunting down.
Luetge, who picked up his first win in eight years by coming on in relief of Jordan Montgomery in the Yankees’ 5-3 victory over Cleveland, had the team hunt down a scorecard to commemorate the achievement, and plans on having the team sign it before he has it framed and hung proudly in his home.
“We were just talking about it in the locker room when I was trying to get a scorecard for tonight,” Luetge said. “I looked at my phone and saw one of my friends texted me ‘congrats on the win.’ I really wasn’t paying attention to what part of the game I was in, I was just focused on getting them out, but after I thought ‘wow, that’s pretty cool.’”
Luetge may not have realized he was in line for the win by the time the game ended, but it was a moment to celebrate for a 34-year-old who is pitching in his first major league season since 2015. The soft-throwing lefty earned a spot with the Yanks after a dominant spring training, and has earned enough trust from manager Aaron Boone that he was called on to retire slugger Franmil Reyes with runners at the corners in the fifth inning, with the Yanks ahead by two.
Luetge responded by freezing Reyes on a curveball for a big strikeout to end the threat.
“He’s been a big story going back to spring training and been a good one for us,” Boone said. “He’s another guy down there that’s been awesome. We were looking up at his hits on his stat line and ERA, and he gave up a homer, but other than that it’s been a ton of soft contact. He’s been another huge piece for us down there.”
Leutge went through a rough patch early on, giving up a home run in three straight appearances, but he has settled in of late, allowing just two earned runs in his last 6.1 innings of work. On Friday, he went 1.1 innings of hitless ball, allowing just one walk.
“Just attacking the zone and not looking at the numbers,” Luetge said of his recent success. “I didn’t think the numbers were where I thought they should be based on the contact I was getting, so it was just staying with what I do and knowing it’ll play over time.”
Luetge believes his recent stat lines are much more indicative of how he’s felt on the mound, and on Friday, he was rewarded with his first victory in 2,788 days.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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