ARLINGTON, Texas — With the Yankees up a run with two outs in the ninth inning Wednesday, manager Aaron Boone’s mind was made up during his walk from the third-base dugout to the Globe Life Field pitcher’s mound.
Six days after the Yankees added two closers just before last Thursday’s trade-deadline buzzer, Boone decided to replace one with the other.
Boone opted to go with Camilo Doval for a third day in a row to get one out with two Rangers on base and cleanup hitter Adolis Garcia coming up rather than stick with David Bednar, whose pitch count was up to a season-high 35.
“I was going to take him out honestly,” Boone said.
That’s what Bednar was told when his new manager reached the mound.
The right-hander’s non-verbal esponse changed Boone’s mind.
“He gave me a look like, ‘No, you’re not (taking me out),’” Boone said.
A little caught off guard, Boone asked, “You sure?”
“Yeah, let’s go,” Bednar told Boone. “I got this guy.”
Seven pitches later, after Garcia fouled off three 2-2 offerings in a row, two curves and a fastball, Bednar won this battle by getting a swing-and-miss with a bottom-of-the-zone splitter.
The Yankees held on for a 3-2 win that gave them a win at the end of at roadtrip that began with five losses.
Paul Goldschmidt was the hitting star of the day with a pinch-hit homer in the seventh that broke a 2-2 tie, but Bednar received the belt that Yankees players hand out in the clubhouse after wins.
“That was huge to allow me to have the opportunity to do that and I’m glad I was able to come through,” Bednar said.
Bednar wound up throwing 42 pitches, a personal high since 2022, but he thought he had enough left in the tank to get one more out.
He was right.”
“That’s a dog effort right there,” Boone said. “I love that mentality. That’s who he’s been.”
Bednar was asked if he was in fumes in the ninth.
“I’m not even thinking about that,” he said. “I’m just thinking about challenging that guy. I just want to get outs.”
A standout closer for years playing for losing Pirates teams, Bednar was 17 for 17 in saves this year when he was traded to the Yankees last week for three prospects: catchers Rafael Florres and Edgleen Perez, and outfielder Brian Sanchez.
The next night, Bednar was part of the new-guys’ meltdown in Miami when the Yankees blew a 9-4 seventh-inning lead and lost to the Marlins 13-12.
Bednar had a poor Yankees debut allowing a seventh-inning, two-run homer that turned a one-run lead into a deficit, but he told Boone after the inning that he wanted to pitch the eighth.
After the Yankees pulled back ahead 12-10 in the top of the eighth. Bednar started winning coaches and teammates over working a scoreless eighth.
“First game here, he gives something up,” Boone said, “and it’s like, ‘Get me right back out there for the second inning. Give me the ball.’
“That’s really good to see and I love that mentality.”
Goldschmidt knew what the Yankees were getting adding Bednar. They faced each other a lot as NL Central rivals when Goldschmidt played for the Cardinals and were Team USA teammates at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
“I’ve faced him a lot,” Goldschmidt said. “He’s a competitor out there. He wanted the ball there. He wanted to get the last out.
“I have a lot of confidence in (Bednar). Just a great, great job by him. We really needed it.”
On a day the Yankees needed 15 outs from their struggling bullpen, high-leverage relievers Luke Weaver and Devin Williams were on rest days and Doval only was good to pitch a third day in a row in an emergency.
After Goldschmidt continued his slaying of left-handed pitching with a tie-breaking homer in the seventh facing Robert Garcia, Boone plotted a bullpen strategy to get to the finish line — Tim Hill and Yerry De Los Santos for five outs in some fashion, then Bednar for the final four.
Hill wound up getting two outs, then De Los Santos came on to retire the Rangers in the seventh and get the first out of the eighth.
“I was hoping it would be a four-out situation (for Bednar), but once we got Yerry through there … I just felt like it was Bednar’s time,” Boone said.
Bednar walked the first batter he faced, then struck out two in a row to keep it 3-2 Yankees through eight.
Back out for the ninth, he made it four strikeouts in a row facing pinch-hitter Rowdy Tellez and Sam Haggerty, but Corey Seager worked a walk on a 3-2 splitter that nicked the outside corner but was called a ball and Marcus Semien followed with a single to right field.
With the tying and winning runs on base, Boone decided it was emergency time. But without even realizing it, he didn’t signal for Doval during his walk to the mound.
“I was going out to make the move,” Boone said, “but I didn’t go right to it, so maybe I did want to get a little feel from him.”
Bednar stayed in and came through to save the game … and maybe unofficially become the Yankees’ new closer. After two blown saves in a row, Williams was demoted on Tuesday, but Boone announced his plans going forward would be to wing it.
“I look at it as we’ve got a bunch of closers down there, so I’m going to kind of play it night by night to try and get these guys in the best positions to be successful,” Boone said on Tuesday.
Bednar might have changed his mind working a 42-pitch, five-out, five-strikeout save that finished off a win the Yankees very badly needed.
“What a great performance,” Boone said. “You’re always uncomfortable anytime one of your leverage guys is getting up to where he was from a pitch count standpoint.
“He loses Seager there and gives up the base hit, but I just felt like he absolutely wanted the ball and I felt like the stuff was still there. So great job by him.”
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Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com.
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