DJ LeMahieu said he felt “close” to clicking after Friday’s loss to the Padres, but he didn’t have the results to show for it. That changed Saturday.
LeMahieu, who entered the game slashing .133/.188/.133 with zero extra-base hits over his last 32 plate appearances, generated the Yankees’ first two runs against San Diego on Saturday. That set the stage for Isiah Kiner-Falefa, whose walk-off single in the 10th inning off Fordham product Nick Martinez shut the door on a 3-2, series-tying, Yankees win in the Bronx.
“It feels good,” Kiner-Falefa said of his first Yankees walk-off. “It was loud, so I felt like a little kid out there running around. It was a dream come true.”
Added LeMahieu: “It was just one of those at-bats, you knew he was going to get a hit.”
As for LeMahieu, he started his day with an RBI single off Michael Wacha in the first inning. Wacha, a Yankees killer, settled in for a while after that, but LeMahieu got to the right-hander again in the seventh when he tied the game at two with a solo home run. The liner was LeMahieu’s first longball since May 10 and his first extra-base hit since May 16, but he said he didn’t change anything going into the day.
“Just results were different,” LeMahieu continued. “Felt good, felt comfortable. I’ve faced Wacha plenty in my career. I kind of know what to expect.”
While LeMahieu had Wacha’s number Saturday, the veteran only surrendered those two runs over seven innings. He struck out four and walked none.
Luis Severino, meanwhile, looked sharp in his second start of the season. Pitching in front of the home crowd for the first time this year, the righty held the Padres to one earned run over 6.2 innings. He walked three and struck out five while tallying 82 pitches.
“I thought his stuff was great,” Aaron Boone said. “The velo was there, but he was really crisp, and he had a good slider. He mixed in his changeup, too. Was ahead in the count. To be as efficient as he was, too, that’s Sevy at his best right there. That’s what it looked like to me.”
Severino sounded pleased with his second start, and he’s looking forward to building up more after a spring training lat injury delayed the beginning of his season.
“I feel pretty good, feel pretty healthy,” Severino said. “It’s a matter of getting more pitches in.”
Severino’s one earned run stemmed from a Fernando Tatis Jr. homer in the fourth inning. It was El Niño’s second dinger of a series in which he’s heard plenty of boos and chants of “steroids” from Yankees fans.
Severino exited in the seventh following an error from Gleyber Torres. Michael King took over from there, and Ha-Seong Kim proceeded to hit an RBI single that gave the Padres a 2-1 lead. But LeMahieu tied things up in the bottom of the inning before Kiner-Falefa took care of business in extras.
After the game, Boone praised the utility man, not only for his big hit, but for his willingness to embrace a new role after starting at shortstop last season.
“You get character reveals all the time in this game, because you’re gonna face rough waters, you’re gonna face adversity,” Boone said of Kiner-Falefa, who struggled last year. “It reveals itself, and what it’s revealed is a guy that wants to go out and be part of a team, and be part of a winning team, and be part of it here and stick his nose in there and get better all the time.”
The Yankees and Padres will wrap up their East-West showdown on Sunday when Gerrit Cole takes the ball for the pinstripers.
Cole is coming off a poor outing against the Orioles, as he allowed five earned runs and two homers on May 23 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees ace is 5-0 with a 2.53 ERA and 70 strikeouts over 67.2 innings and 11 starts this season.
The Padres will send Yu Darvish to the mound, making for an exciting pitching matchup. Darvish is 3-3 this season with a 3.67 ERA and 57 strikeouts. He’s logged 54 innings over nine starts.
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