Victor Martinez’s laser into the first row of seats in right field was the gut punch. Niko Goodrum followed with a home run that wasn’t hit nearly as hard but served as the knockout blow to the Yankees’ chances of making a race out of the AL East.
With closer Aroldis Chapman on the disabled list, Aaron Boone went with the hot hand and summoned Dellin Betances to get the final three outs against the Tigers and protect a two-run lead for a much-needed victory Thursday night at Yankee Stadium.
What unfolded was stunning and damaging, as Betances walked Nick Castellanos with one out in the ninth before giving up a game-tying two-run homer to the switch-hitting Martinez. Three pitches later, Goodrum followed Martinez into the seats for the lead.
Former Yankee Shane Greene retired the Yankees in order in the bottom of the inning to seal an 8-7 victory that sent the Bombers to their third defeat in the past four games and should turn their focus to holding off the A’s for the first spot in the AL wild-card race.
Giancarlo Stanton accepts congratulations from teammates after belting his 300th homer.Paul J. Bereswill“I missed a couple of spots to Victor Martinez. I was trying to go away and I yanked a heater to his hot zone, middle in,’’ said Betances of the line-drive homer that saddled him with a second blown save of the season. “The other [Goodrum] I tried a breaking ball for a strike and he was able to hit it out.’’
Betances, who had given up three runs in the previous 36 games (35 ²/₃ innings) and just one homer, said a bloody cut that developed on the index finger of his right hand when he throws breaking balls wasn’t the reason for his problems.
Betances’ flush job shocked the Yankee Stadium crowd of 37,195 and turned Giancarlo Stanton’s 300th career home run, a two-run poke to right-center in the second that gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead, into an afterthought. And it spoiled Gleyber Torres’ two-run homer in the fourth and Luke Voit’s missile to center in the seventh that provided the Yankees with a 7-5 advantage.
It also tarnished outstanding bullpen work by Chad Green, David Robertson and Zach Britton who combined for 3 ²/₃ shutout innings.
Finally, coupled with the Red Sox beating the White Sox, who took two out of three from the Yankees in The Bronx this week, the Yankees fell 8 ½ lengths back of their blood rivals, who lowered their magic number for clinching the division title to 20.
All the blame didn’t land on Betances’ colossal shoulders. In easily the worst outing of his six starts as a Yankee, J.A. Happ gave up five runs and 10 hits, three of which were a season-high three homers, in 4 ¹/₃ innings.
Torres booted a ground ball that would have been a double play in the second that added to Happ’s pitch count but didn’t lead to a run.
Miguel Andujar lost an out in the fifth when he hit Goodrum in the back during a rundown. Brett Gardner was thrown out attempting to go from first to third in the third and Torres was thrown out trying to stretch a seventh-inning single to left into a double.
“In the first half of the game we did not play well. We didn’t play great behind J.A.,’’ Boone said. “Grabbed the lead late in the game, and usually with the way our back end sets up that is usually going to finish it off. But we have to play a cleaner brand of baseball so we are not in that situation on a night like tonight.’’
