MLB

Nobody’s perfect: Yankees’ Betances can’t protect lead

Dellin Betances’ rise from bust to cult hero hit a bump Tuesday night, as the right-hander was unable to protect a one-run lead in the Yankees’ 5-2, 10-inning loss to the A’s at the Stadium.

Though Betances understood the two-out double to Stephen Vogt in the eighth allowed Oakland to tie the game, he was particularly upset about walking Alberto Callaspo to set it up.

“The Callaspo at-bat was more frustrating,” Betances said. “I had him ahead and didn’t put him away.”
He had Callaspo down 1-2, but after it got to 2-2, Betances missed with two straight knuckle curves to put Callaspo on and extend the inning.

“From there, I fell behind Vogt and gave him a good pitch to hit,” Betances said of the four-seamer he left up in the zone. “I felt like I was one pitch away from giving the ball to [David Robertson].”

Instead, by the time Robertson came into the game it was 2-2 and the Yankees’ bullpen was in the midst of a third straight meltdown. Adam Warren gave away any chance the Yankees had at salvaging a win by giving up three runs in just a third of an inning in the 10th to fall to 1-3.

A six-run ninth cost them a win against the Twins on Sunday followed by a four-run fiasco in a loss to Seattle on Monday. On Tuesday, the pen coughed up four more runs.

Betances, though, had been practically unhittable since giving up two runs in a 6-3 loss to the Mariners on April 29.

In his previous 13 outings, he threw 19¹/₃ innings, gave up just nine hits, a pair of walks and two earned runs. He also struck out 33 in that span.

Tuesday looked to be no different. When he entered in the seventh, he made quick work in fanning Brandon Moss and retired the first two batters in the eighth.

“After two outs I felt like my breaking ball wasn’t the same,” Betances said. “I thought if I threw a good breaking ball to Callaspo, I’d get him out.”

The formerly wild Betances hadn’t walked a batter in his previous 10 appearances, covering 15¹/₃ innings.

But Betances then fell behind pinch hitter Stephen Vogt 2-0 and got a visit from pitching coach Larry Rothschild. Vogt wound up drilling Betances’ full count offering into right-center for a double to tie the game at 2-2.

“I definitely hurt the team,” Betances said. “I just have to come back [Wednesday] and put this behind me.”