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The New York Yankees lost 2-0 to the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night, their fifth loss in as many games.
Once again, reliever Devin Williams found himself in the middle of things after Yankees manager Aaron Boone gave him the ball in the bottom of the eighth of a scoreless tie — one night after giving up a back-breaking game-tying home run to Joc Pederson.
On Tuesday, he gave up a double and two walks to load the bases for his former teammate Rowdy Tellez, who brought in two with a single. Williams recorded the second out of the inning when Boone went to Mark Leiter Jr. Boone explained his decision not to pull Williams from the game after he loaded the bases.
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“Boone said he liked Williams against the middle of the order with their righties,” wrote the New York Post’s Greg Joyce. “He was thinking about going to (David) Bednar in a four-out situation, but thought Williams could still get some swing-and-miss in that spot with bases loaded and one out.”
Boone’s continuous support of Williams is puzzling. He is clearly not performing like a two-time National League Reliever of the Year winner. To stick with him after he loaded the bases and blew the game the night before is extremely questionable.
The Yankees traded for Camilo Doval and Bednar at the trade deadline. Both are All-Star closers, just like Williams, and both have been better this season. Not only did Boone stick with Williams against the left-handed hitting Tellez, but he had Bednar and Leiter both warming up.
Both Bednar and Leiter are right-handed pitchers, but Bednar has been great against lefties this year, and Leiter has better numbers against lefties than righties this season.
Clearly, both were available, but Boone’s decision to stick with Williams once again backfired.
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