Breaking Down Guardians' Game-Winning Rally Against Jameson Taillon in Top of 10th
NEW YORK — Before Jameson Taillon entered the game to begin the 10th inning on Friday night, making the first relief appearance of his career, New York's bullpen had been spotless in the American League Division Series.
At that point, a mix of four Yankees relievers had thrown six scoreless innings out of the 'pen, silencing concerns regarding the bullpen's effectiveness and reliability.
So, as Taillon entered the ballgame, hoping to preserve a 2-2 tie in Game 2 of the ALDS against the Guardians, the Yankees and a sellout crowd at Yankee Stadium felt cautiously optimistic. Sure, Taillon was coming in from the bullpen for the first time in his MLB career (also making his postseason debut), but Yankees manager Aaron Boone had been hyping him up as a reliever for almost a week.
What happened next was a back-breaking combination of bad luck and poor execution, an extra-inning rally for the Guardians as they jumped in front and evened the series at one game apiece with a 4-2 win.
Taillon did everything right against the first two batters he faced. He threw strikes and he limited hard contact, inducing feeble swings from Cleveland's No. 3 and No. 4 hitters.
Baseball can be a cruel game, though.
José Ramírez's pop fly to shallow left field had an expected batting average of .090. It fell just in front of left fielder Oswaldo Cabrera's outstretched glove, too far into the outfield for third baseman Josh Donaldson to track it down.
"Just a perfect spot," shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa said after the game. "We were in the shift so it made it a little tougher to get back there. Just a tough play and heads-up base running by them as well."
Ramírez was busting it out of the box, headed for second with a leadoff double. Donaldson added insult to injury by trying to throw him out at second, airmailing Gleyber Torres and allowing Ramírez to advance to third.
Donaldson later said that he pulled his throw while trying to make a play, thinking he had a chance to nab the runner. Boone didn't seem to have a problem with the choice to throw to second, even if it backfired.
"He was quick to recognize [Ramírez was going to second]. I thought it was heads-up," Boone said. "If it's going to be close, you go for it. You trust yourself to make that throw."
Next, cleanup man Oscar Gonzalez made Donaldson pay for the error, driving Ramírez home on a two-strike curveball that he poked over the head of Anthony Rizzo into shallow right field. The single had an exit velocity of just 58.9 mph. The only other hit with a sub-69-mph exit velocity was Steven Kwan's bunt single on the very first pitch of the game against starter Nestor Cortes (42.6 mph).
Gonzalez couldn't have placed it any better. With Rizzo and the rest of the infield in, it was like the 24-year-old outfielder lofted a wedge shot over the sand trap and onto the front of the green.
You can't fault Taillon for that first run. You can for what allowed Gonzalez to score from first.
On Friday afternoon, Taillon spoke to reporters about the adjustments that he's made to pitch out of the bullpen this series, how he's learning to warm up quicker and stay loose throughout the game. The biggest change is in his mindset.
"If you're throwing a slider to a guy who might hit hanging sliders really well, you better make sure that misses in the dirt versus over in the plate," he said.
The next batter Taillon faced was Josh Naylor, a slugger that excels against right-handers and has great numbers against the four-seam fastball (51.6 hard hit percentage, .274 batting average and .478 expected slugging percentage). Taillon, a right-hander, grooved a four-seam fastball on the eighth pitch of the at-bat. Naylor drove a missile to the center-field wall, an RBI double and some valuable insurance.
The 108.5-mph double from Naylor was the hardest batted ball of the entire game.
Boone quickly pulled the plug, summoning Clarke Schmidt from the bullpen. He got out of the inning, retiring the next three batters in order on three groundouts and nine total pitches.
The 10th is frustrating, but don't place all the blame on Taillon and Donaldson. New York's inability to score after Giancarlo Stanton's two-run home run in the bottom of the first is the most concerning aspect of Friday's Game 2 loss.
Once again, New York had no answers for Cleveland's bullpen, striking out eight times against Trevor Stephan, James Karinchak and closer Emmanuel Clase (who shut the door and earned the win, recording the final seven outs). The Yankees were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, leaving 11 runners on base. That's not going to cut it against a team like Cleveland—they may not hit for power, but you can count on the Guardians to put the ball in play and pitch with the best of 'em.
"We've had adversity throughout this long season, on our way to winning a division," Aaron Judge said after the loss, a game in which he went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts. "This isn't anything new to us. We got the guys in this room to go out there and finish this job. Start relying on each other, we'll have some short term memory on this and get ready for the next game tomorrow."
On Saturday, Luis Severino gets the ball for New York, facing Triston McKenzie. McKenzie faced the Yankees back in July, allowing just one hit over seven scoreless innings. That was the lone victory for Cleveland in six regular season contests against the Yankees this year.
MORE:
- Aaron Judge Reacts to Getting Booed in Game 2 of ALDS at Yankee Stadium
- Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton Homers After Missed Call By Home Plate Umpire
- Aaron Boone Explains Decision to Start Jose Trevino Over Kyle Higashioka in ALDS
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