Fall behind, get a brilliant bullpen outing, rally for a come-from-behind victory. It’s a formula that has worked so often for the Yankees in the past; and thanks to a trio of relievers, it worked again yesterday.
After Carl Pavano spit the bit, Paul Quantrill, Tanyon Sturtze and Tom Gordon combined for five scoreless innings
to help lift the Bombers to a 13-9 victory over Seattle, their season-high fifth consecutive win to cap their homestand.
“It’s never mattered in the past, home or road, if we’re playing well – especially if our bullpen becomes as good as it was today,” said Joe Torre, whose bullpen lowered its ERA to 4.15.
“Last year we got a lot of come-from-behind wins. Today was one of those days,” said Gordon, who hit 97 mph
in a scoreless ninth. “We needed somebody to pick the team up and Paul did that, and Sturtze did a good job. It was a great win.”
And a prototypical one. Pavano left down 9-6 in the fourth, but the Yanks tied it in the bottom of the inning. Quantrill – who hadn’t pitched in a week – stopped the bleeding, getting Adrian Beltre to ground out with two on to end the fifth, then pitched a 1-2-3 sixth.
“Those two innings were more important than any two in the game, because of the way they were scoring,” Torre said. “He stopped it, and pitched to the big part of the order, too.”
Sturtze – in his third straight scoreless outing since being activated from the DL last Thursday – hit 95 mph and allowed just a harmless single.
“It was a great day for us, a big step,” Sturtze said. “All we thought about as we were sitting out there and runs were going up was get out there and get some quick outs. I think we’ve come together (as a bullpen).”
Most of all Gordon. After struggling early on, rushing his delivery and ruining his mechanics, he worked closely with pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre. He relaxed and regained both the feel of and command of his curveball.
“I was so jumpy I couldn’t get (my curve) over. My mechanics were so off I wasn’t able to hit my spots with my fastball either,” Gordon said. “It was hard on me, trying to keep from thinking too much, from overdoing it. I had to keep working hard, believing in what I do. (Yesterday) was a start.”