BALTIMORE — Gleyber Torres had just given the Yankees the lead in the top of the sixth inning Thursday when Aaron Boone called on Tommy Kahnle with one out and a runner on first and the Yankees desperately in need of holding onto a slim lead.
Kahnle entered having made just one appearance, a rocky ninth inning in the third game of the year when the Yankees trailed Baltimore by three runs.
The right-hander walked three and struck out two in a scoreless frame on March 31, but was placed in a higher-leverage spot Thursday at Camden Yards and managed to get out of the sixth and pitch a perfect seventh that helped the Yankees to an 8-4 win over the Orioles.
“That was huge,’’ Boone said of Kahnle’s outing, especially in the sixth. “That’s the game right there and we weren’t going to anyone else. It was on him to figure it out.”
Kahnle immediately fell behind Jesus Sucre 3-0 before walking the catcher to move the tying run into scoring position. He then faced a 3-1 count against Richie Martin before he got a double-play grounder to get out of the inning.
“He came in struggling [with his command] a little bit, too,’’ Boone said. “He was in a tough spot.”
Boone added he had no intention of going to Chad Green because of his recent workload and wanted to avoid Jonathan Holder and Adam Ottavino outside of an “emergency” situation, in an attempt to use Friday’s off day to “reset the bullpen.”
“He gets a big double-play ball to end the [sixth] and comes out and I thought was really effective against the top of their order in the next inning,’’ Boone said. “I hope it’s one [outing] that’s a real confidence boost for him because I feel like he’s throwing the ball really well. He’s just got to trust his mechanics because he’s obviously a guy when he’s going well can really impact us back there.”
That didn’t happen much last season, when Kahnle battled injuries and ineffectiveness. He made just 24 appearances and finished with a 6.56 ERA, a far cry from his production in the latter part of 2017, when he became a key member of the bullpen after being acquired from the White Sox in the deal that also landed David Robertson and Todd Frazier.
Zack Britton took over for Kahnle in the eighth and didn’t allow a run and Luke Voit sealed the win with a three-run blast in the top of the ninth that gave closer Aroldis Chapman a cushion.
The sudden burst of offense from what had been a struggling lineup, coupled with 3 ²/₃ shutout innings from the pen, made a winner out of James Paxton, who Boone credited with shaking off a rough first inning to pitch into the sixth.
“We needed it, especially with a few guys down we were trying to stay away from,’’ Boone said of the lefty, who threw 32 pitches in a three-run bottom of the first and then gave up another run in the fifth.
“For him to come through with that outing after struggling in the first inning was huge for us.”
And perhaps Kahnle took a step toward regaining the form he showed two seasons ago for a relief corps that is without the injured Dellin Betances.
