Aaron Boone had Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman up at various points late in the Yankees’ 7-5 loss to the Orioles at the Stadium on Sunday, but instead of bringing in his most dependable arms with the Yankees down a run, the manager opted to call on Stephen Tarpley to relieve Luis Cessa in the eighth inning.
The move didn’t pan out.
The left-handed Tarpley entered with a runner on first following Cessa’s walk to Renato Nunez to face lefty-swinging Rio Ruiz.
Tarpley retired Ruiz on a comebacker for the second out, but Joey Rickard gave the Orioles some much-needed breathing room by homering to the short porch in right to give Baltimore a three-run lead.
The Yankees came back with a run in the ninth, but got no closer. Despite the outcome, Boone stood by his decision to go to the inexperienced Tarpley instead of Britton.
“We were staying away from [Adam Ottavino] and staying away from [Jonathan] Holder,’’ Boone said of his bullpen usage. “Early in the season, you’ve got to be able to lean on some other guys in certain situations. When you start bringing in guys late and you’re chasing, then all of a sudden you’re putting yourself in a bind tomorrow and the next day.”
Clearly, Monday’s game against the Tigers, one in which the Yankees have considered using an opener in front of Domingo German, was on Boone’s mind Sunday.
Britton said he would have come into the game if the Yankees had managed to tie it, but after Gary Sanchez’s first home run of the season cut Baltimore’s lead to 5-4 with two outs in the seventh, the Yankees got no closer.
And Boone added walking Rickard, a right-handed bat, to get to Chris Davis, a lefty slugger whose year-plus slump has made him arguably the game’s worst hitter, was not a consideration. Tarpley has been far more effective against lefties than righties in his brief career.
“We were all right with that matchup,’’ Boone said of Tarpley facing Rickard.
Rickard made the Yankees pay for their decision with his first homer — and hit — of the young season.
Tarpley got out of the eighth without allowing another run and Tommy Kahnle somehow didn’t give up a run in the ninth after walking the bases loaded with no one out.
“The bottom line is we have a lot of confidence in a lot of layers of our bullpen and those guys have got to be able to get big outs for us,’’ the manager said. “Tonight, we got hurt by the long ball there with [Tarpley], but those guys need to be able to get big outs in the medium- and lower-leverage spots.’’