Jameson Taillon Terrific. NY 2 Tampa 0

May 28, 2022 paperbacklou 2022 1

In the recent conversation of who the Yankee’s Ace is — Nestor Cortes Jr or Gerrit Cole — and do the Yankees have 3 Aces with Luis Severino — Jameson Taillon said “What About Me?” — pitching 8 innings of 2-hit shutout ball to carry the Yankees to the 2-0 victory. The performance matched the 8 shutout innings that Cortes threw the night before against Tampa, and exceeded the 7 shutout innings that Severino threw in his last start against the Chicago White Sox earlier in the week.

The NY runs came on solo homers by Gleyber Torres and new Yankee Matt Carpenter in the 4th inning. Clay Holmes pitched an easy 1-2-3 ninth for the save. On a Friday night at the Trop — a place the Yanks have traditionally had difficulty winning at.

When asked if the starters are feeding off of each other, Taillon said “Yea — a couple of the starters last night were like, ‘hey lets all go 7 or 8 this series,’ So I woke up feeling a little nervous; a little pressure there — but it’s a great group; it’s a tight-nit group; we all talk about what we’re doing; what we’re working on, our bullpens and our scouting meetings; so I’m just glad to be a part of it.”

Taillon’s final stat line: 8 innings, 2 hits, 5 K’s, 0 walks. He goes to 5-1 2.49 on the season. He now leads the Yankees in wins, and his ERA is 2nd on the starting staff.

1. Taillon Terrific

Taillon was terrific all evening — mowing down the Tampa lineup with his 93-MPH fastball, 93-MPH sinker, 84-MPH slider, and 80-MPH curve. He threw the 8 innings of shutout ball on only 93 pitches.

“We wanted to attack. Fill up the strike zone and mix,” said Taillon afterwards.

“That’s a really tough lineup, and they’ve seen me a good amount,” added Taillon. “But I feel I’m in a better spot this year than when they saw me last year. I told Higgy before the game I was going to just trust him. He’s seen these guys a lot more than me.”

Taillon had a Perfect Game going into the 5th inning. He was helped all evening by Excellent Yankee defense — on the infield and outfield.

“My command was good tonight; I didn’t necessarily have my best, best stuff,” added Taillon. “The Defense was amazing tonite — I think everyone around the field made a good play, at every position.”

In the 1st, Isiah Kiner-Falefa made a sterling play at short to rob Tampa of a hit.

Randy Arozarena broke up the Perfect Game with a leadoff single in the 5th, but was quickly nailed trying to steal 2nd by Kyle Higashioka, and Taillon continued his march through the Rays lineup.

Manuel Margot led off the 6th with a double, but Taillon retired the next 3 batters in order — helped by a spectacular defensive play by Gleyber Torres who dove to snare a line drive behind 2nd — for the second out — stealing a base hit away from Tampa and saving a run.

Taillon proceeded to throw 1-2-3 innings in the 7th and 8th, when it looked like he was starting to tire. But the Yankee defense had his back — Joey Gallo made a terrific play on a shot to right by Joi-min Choi — Gallo leaped by the wall to make the catch for out #1.

2. Gleyber & Carpenter Solo Bombs

Tampa starter Jeffrey Springs, a 6’3 lefty, came in with a sterling 1.32 ERA and 2-1 record.

Gleyber Torres, who has been Red Hot — hit a 438-foot BOMB to left to leadoff the 4th for a 1-0 Yankee lead.

New Yankee and lefty hitter Matt Chapman followed a batter later with a SHOT to right to make it 2-0.

3. Holmes for the Agita-Less Save

And that was it for the Yankee scoring. Clay Holmes came in for the 9th and pitched an easy, agita-less 1-2-3 inning for the save.

With Aroldis Chapman on the Injured List, one can’t say for certain if Holmes is the new Yankee closer, but he seems to be.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401354918

1 Comment

  1. This reminds me of 1998 when the Yankees had 4 aces and they would compete with one another. Joe Torre used to mention it at the time. David Cone, David Wells, Andy Pettitte, and Ace-of-Aces El Duque!

    Reply

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