Lance Lynn looked like a savior when he joined the Yankees at the trade deadline, replacing Sonny Gray in the rotation and allowing just one run over his first 16 ²/₃ innings in pinstripes.
Since then, he’s been the one who needs saving.
Lynn was knocked around again Sunday in the Yankees’ 11-7 loss to the Tigers, giving up six runs on nine hits in 3 ²/₃ innings.
“All in all, I wasn’t able to get them to hit it at anybody, and I didn’t make pitches when I needed to when runners got on there at the end,” Lynn said. “I gotta be better next time out. That’s all there is to it. I’ll go back to the video and make some adjustments and go after guys the way I do, just try to be a little better.”
But when apprised of his numbers — a 0.54 ERA over his first three outings with the Yankees and a 9.16 ERA in his past four starts — Lynn downplayed the struggles, insisting his stuff has been just as good.
“Not give up so many hits, it’s that simple,” Lynn said when asked what he could do moving forward. “When you look at my season as a whole, I’ve had bad stretches where I’ve had good stuff, and then I’ve gone out there and had a game where I’ve gone six innings of no-run baseball and had the most [expletive] stuff I’ve ever had of the year. That is baseball.”
Lynn, who posted a 5.10 ERA in 20 starts with the Twins before the trade, allowed 10 of the 20 batters he faced to reach base. The Tigers’ bottom third of the lineup was 6-for-6 against him. But Lynn attributed his troubles to the Tigers finding holes, especially in a five-run fourth inning that knocked him out.
“Jam single, six-hopper single, beat fastball, double down the line, chopper down the line, double. That’s what happened,” Lynn said.
Gray later came on in relief and allowed one run over four innings. It was his first appearance since getting a spot start in a doubleheader against the Orioles and delivering 6 ¹/₃ scoreless innings.
Bench coach Josh Bard, who managed and handled postgame media duties for the suspended Aaron Boone, gave no indication about the Yankees’ plan for Lynn’s next turn through the rotation.
“Rough day for him, but we believe in him a lot,” Bard said. “He’s going to be a big part of this thing moving forward.”
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