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A scoreless game did not allow Aaron Boone to hide Devin Williams on Tuesday night.
Just one day after yet another crushing blown save by Williams, Boone needed someone to pitch the eighth inning of a scoreless game against the Rangers.
Some managers may have avoided a struggling reliever, who seemingly had lost his closing job earlier in the day, yet Boone gave Williams the chance to right the ship in a controversial move that many questioned.
“We got to piece it together,” Boone said. “Once Will (Warren) goes five, we’re set up there. Liked him in that middle with the handful of those righties and obviously just couldn’t finish it off.”
Boone’s decision, like most he’s made these days, backfired with Williams allowing two runs to send the Yankees to a fifth straight loss in their 2-0 setback.
Williams is now 3-4 with a ghastly 5.44 ERA and has allowed runs in six of eight appearances in the second half, including four straight, to post a 9.39 ERA in this stretch.
“I mean, I don’t really know what to say at this point,” Williams said. “Continue to work, keep trying to execute and help the team any way that I can.”
One of the beauties of baseball for relievers is the ability to get back on the proverbial horse the day after a rough outing like Williams had Monday, when he allowed a game-tying ninth-inning homer to Joc Pederson.
Managers sometimes, though, will shy away from using a struggling pitcher if they can.
Tuesday forced Boone into a tough call after Warren labored through five innings, and he used Camilo Doval and Luke Weaver in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively.
The Rangers had two righties to start the eighth and three of the first four batters, which made Boone lean toward Williams rather than lefty Tim Hill.
It also appeared Boone wanted a softer spot to reintroduce Mark Leiter Jr. after an injured list stint, while David Bednar seemingly was being held for a save opportunity.
Williams retired Marcus Semien before allowing a double to Adolis Garcia that Jasson Dominguez got his glove on but could not corral.
Things went south when Williams’ control issues popped up, with the righty walking lefty Pederson and then righty Wyatt Langford to load the bases.
Boone had his chance to remove Williams at this point, with Bednar and Leiter warming, but in a polarizing moment, he stuck with his struggling reliever.
The manager added that he didn’t consider Hill since he figured the Rangers could counter by pinch-hitting a righty.
“I was going to maybe go with Bednar in a four-out situation, but just kind of shorten the game a little bit,” Boone said. “We don’t have a lot left down there once — and Leiter being in a situation where he obviously hasn’t pitched in a while, so if I could get it to a four-out scenario, I was going to do it. I thought Devin could still get some swing and miss there, but obviously didn’t.”
Boone went 0-for-2 in Williams decisions, when Rowdy Tellez won a 10-pitch at-bat with a 71-mph soft single into center to plate a pair of runs.
Williams reacted the moment the ball left the bat, seemingly knowing the runs would score and continue his nightmarish season.
“He did a great job. Battling me, he was fouling off everything,” Williams said. “He won today. I’ll try to get him the next time.”
There’s a near-zero percent chance — barring an emergency — that Williams will pitch Wednesday in the series finale amid this stretch, and it’s fair to wonder in what role he will be used in his next outing.
With Bednar, Doval and Weaver available, and Hill to take care of lefties, Boone can demote Williams to low-leverage innings if needed.
Making it all the more confounding is that Boone can’t pinpoint why Williams is having the worst year of his career.
“Obviously, there’s in the middle here where he’s been really good and lately had some struggles obviously,” Boone said. “We got to hopefully help him turn the corner and get part of the group that we can still be very good down there.”
