After watching his two All-Star hurlers struggle and give up seven of the 10 runs the Mets scored in Game 1, Aaron Boone was both thrilled and relieved to get 6 1/3 innings out of Nestor Cortes and Chad Green in Game 2, the latter picking up his third win of 2021.
“Huge. Obviously with what we’re going through right now and some of the gut punches of late, fir the guys to step up in the nightcap, hopefully that’s something we can take with us to the west coast and build on,” Boone said after the game.
It started with Cortes, who was slated for about 50 pitches – his season-high was 65, done twice, and he threw 24 on Tuesday – but he was so terrific through three innings that Boone gave him two batters into the fourth and a total of 59 pitches, departing after allowing a one-out double to Dom Smith.
“As he was walking down the hallway to head to the bullpen before the game, I said to someone he’s probably the perfect guy to go out there,” Boone said. “He pitches without fear and loves what he does. There’s joy in the way he plays the game, and he went out there and set the tone for us. I was counting on 50 pitches from him, but he was efficient and I let him go a little further, and he was great for us when we really needed it.”
“He’s been pitching really well for us,” added Gio Urshela, whose three-run homer in the second inning gave Cortes the lead. “It was a big day for him, and we’re really happy for him.”
After Darren O’Day came on and struggled, allowing a two-run homer to Pete Alonso before getting out of the fourth, Chad Green came on for the fifth; it was his second appearance of the day, as he got the final out of the sixth inning in Game 1, but he was up to the task.
“I knew going into the day I had a chance of throwing both games since I’ve had a lot of rest,” Green said. “I knew it was a possibility and I felt I could do it, so that wasn’t an issue. After getting that one out (in Game 1), part of me knew that was probably gonna be it because we had used (Jonathan Loaisiga) for 40 pitches, so my mindset was get that one and be ready for Game 2.”
He was more than ready, throwing 35 pitches over three perfect innings, striking out six to take the win.
“He was terrific. He had terrific command from jump street, throwing the ball how and where he wanted to, and mixing in the curveball where he wanted to,” Boone said. “I was a little reluctant to send him out there again for the seventh, but he wanted the ball and was dominant and efficient for us.”
“I was just going to go as long as I could,” Green added. “I knew we had a few guys unavailable, so I was just gonna go as long as I could and we’d go from there. I think being able to land the breaking ball behind in the count got me back into counts, and I was able to get some quick outs to keep the pitch count down.”
The discussion to give Green a third inning after the first two perfect ones was quick – Boone asked, Green said he was good to go, and the skipper deliberated before deciding to do it – and Green not only rewarded him, but did so with the second immaculate inning of the year for the Yankees, fanning Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil, and Jonathan Villar in order to end it.
“That’s pretty cool,” Green smiled.
Given that performance, as well as Chapman’s struggles over his last three, Boone was asked if he might consider moving Green into the closer’s role going forward, but neither skipper nor righty were ready to take on that responsibility just yet.
“I’ll consider a number of things – those will be conversations that we have, but we may not have that option Tuesday if Greeny and Lo are still down,” Boone said. “We’ll try and do what’s best for the team and for those individuals.”
“Chapman is our closer,” Green added. “That’s a discussion they’ll have if they feel they need to, but we all go through rough patches during the season, and we all have faith in Chappy and have no doubt he’ll work through it.”
One other thing Boone has to consider: the Yankees will only need their fifth starter’s spot once between now and July 18 – this Saturday in Houston – and given the way Cortes pitched, combined with Mike King’s effectiveness in relief as opposed to starting (he has a 1.90 ERA as a reliever and a 5.47 mark as a starter this year, with a 15.00 first-inning mark), he was asked if he might piggyback the two.
“We could have something like that in play in Houston potentially, where we’ll need a spot there, depending in how guys are needed in the Seattle series,” Boone said.
Regardless of decisions to be made, Green noted that ending the rough week with a win makes for a much happier flight to Seattle to kick off the half-ending road trip.
“Definitely, when we go into an off-day, you don’t want a sour taste in your mouth,” Green said. “We came up short in Game 1, so it makes sleeping a little easier tonight. We still have work to do, but we’ll reset tomorrow and get set to play on Tuesday.”
Added Cortes: “We needed to come out and salvage this series, and I think it was super important we got the job done.”
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