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Devin Williams entered in the top of the eighth inning, looking to keep the Yankees up in a one-run game against one of the most dangerous parts of Toronto’s deep lineup.
And he threw his first pitch to pinch hitter Addison Barger to the backstop.
But instead of another disaster from the right-hander after his latest implosion in Houston on Wednesday, Williams provided a huge scoreless inning in a 4-3 win over the Blue Jays that brought the Yankees back to within two games of first place.
It wasn’t easy, as Barger singled and then stole second with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at the plate.
Guerrero, always a tough out, has been especially hot lately.
He entered with 10 hits in his previous four games and added two more earlier Sunday, but Williams got him swinging with a 3-2 changeup for the first out.
Alejandro Kirk followed with a groundout and after a walk to Ernie Clement, Williams got Ty France on a ground ball to third.
“He had to go through the heart [of the order],’’ Aaron Boone said of Williams. “He has been unlucky. He’s had some tough games and some tough moments, but he has the ability to get really good hitters out in big spots. Today was huge.”
The turning point was the strikeout of Guerrero.
Williams said of the at-bat, “I was attacking the zone … trying to get him to hit something on the right side there.”
Instead, he struck him out with his best pitch, something that wouldn’t have been surprising when he was among the best relievers in baseball in Milwaukee, but that was less of a certainty as he’s struggled for much of his first year with the Yankees.
“That’s what I do,’’ Williams said of throwing his patented changeup in any spot. “I’m gonna throw it no matter what, no matter what the count is. I always have a lot of confidence in it.”
And he had confidence going into the challenge of facing Guerrero.
“I like myself in any matchup,’’ Williams said. “But that’s what it came down to. That’s what I was tasked with today, and I was happy I was able to get it done.”
It was the second straight day the bullpen followed up a strong start in a tight game with a solid performance.
Luke Weaver, Fernando Cruz and David Bednar combined to throw three scoreless innings after Luis Gil’s strong start on Saturday and Williams and Bednar got through two shutout frames after Max Fried’s seven innings in Sunday’s finale.
Perhaps the bullpen, which has failed to live up to expectations despite multiple major additions, is finally rounding into form.
“As a unit, we’re a lot better than the results we’ve been getting,’’ Williams said. “All it takes is for everyone to get hot at the right time and it’s gonna be a lockdown bullpen.”
That’s what the Yankees are counting on down the stretch and — they hope — into October.
