From mop-up to moonwalk.
Yes, one year’s time has been very kind to Dellin Betances — and the Yankees.
Are you ready for the first Yankees-Red Sox postseason series since 2004? It’s happening, by virtue of the Yankees’ 7-2 defeat of the A’s Wednesday night in the American League wild-card game. Game 1 of the AL Division Series, the rivalry revved up, will be Friday night at Fenway Park.
The Yankees survived the loser-goes-home affair against the dangerous A’s because starting pitcher Luis Severino rewarded Aaron Boone for his faith and Aaron Judge guided the offense with a first-inning, two-run homer and sixth-inning double.
And because Betances, who had worked his way down to last man out of the bullpen by the time the Astros eliminated the Yankees last October, became the first man out of the bullpen in this 2018 postseason. And the big guy absolutely crushed it.
Asked to bail out Severino from a first-and-second, none-out situation with the Yankees leading by only two, the right-hander arrived in the fifth inning — his earliest entry point since May 23, 2014 — and went six up, six down. After the third out, a strikeout of A’s powerful designated hitter Khris Davis to escape the tense fifth, Betances pumped his pitching arm in triumph and danced a few steps backward — a moonwalk, sort of — toward the Yankees’ dugout.
He dominated even more in the sixth, striking out Stephen Piscotty and Ramon Laureano for the final two outs; his exit provided less drama and flair, given that he had no trouble to elude. While the game’s evolution has made the pitching win increasingly irrelevant, no one will complain about Betances getting credited with the win on this one.
Who had Betances registering the 2018 first postseason victory on, say, Halloween of last year? Or April Fools Day of this year? As this season lifted off, Betances looked like he carried a hangover from last year’s disastrous postseason, when he lost Joe Girardi’s trust by walking five batters in four innings. His only two outings in the 2017 AL Championship Series came during garbage time. Then, under his new manager Boone, he tallied a 4.91 ERA in this season’s first month.
Boone maintained his faith in the four-time All-Star, however, and just as important, a wealth of bullpen options and a rampaging Yankees offense empowered Boone to lighten up, relatively speaking, on Betances. His 66 ²/₃ regular-season innings represented his second-lightest workload since he established himself in 2014; he registered 59 ²/₃ innings last season when he faltered late, foreshadowing his playoff struggles. His 2.70 ERA and 4.42 strikeouts-per-walk put this year among his best and reversed his downward trend of recent seasons.
Hence it was surprising yet not shocking when Boone turned to Betances to bail the Yankees out of what proved to be their biggest jam. And by the time David Robertson succeeded Betances to start the seventh inning, he enjoyed the benefit of a 6-0 cushion.
On Tuesday, as the Yankees worked out at the Stadium, Boone said of Severino, “Hopefully he pitches deep into this game. … But obviously with our bullpen and what we’ll have available at our disposal, we’ll also be very aggressive in making moves or trying to set up the best matchups, depending on the game.”
Boone honored those words, and he honored Betances’ turnaround. Betances busted the ghosts of what transpired a year ago. Onward to the Red Sox and to more opportunities for Betances to shine … or not. If you’re a Yankees fan, you’re dying to know what other dance moves Betances has in his repertoire.
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