Inside The Pinstripes

Historic Performance From Yankees' Bullpen Sets Table For Brett Gardner's Walk-Off

The New York Yankees bullpen had a historic performance against the Seattle Mariners, setting up a walk-off single from OF Brett Gardner in extra innings

Max Goodman

NEW YORK — With injuries and another COVID-19 outbreak limiting the Yankees' starting rotation, New York was forced to attack the Mariners with a bullpen day on Friday night.

While New York's offense was incapacitated in regulation, the bullpen matched Seattle with zero after zero as nine different pitchers combined to shove 11 innings, allowing just one earned run.

With the game tied at two heading into the bottom of the 11th, the bats were finally able to take care of business. A two-out, walk-off single from Brett Gardner, plating Joey Gallo from second base, secured the 3-2 win, sending a boisterous crowd of over 43 thousand fans into a frenzy.

The victory is New York's fourth in a row, extending their record since July 6 to 18-8, the best in all of baseball. It also pushed the Yankees up to 11 games over .500, the first time they've been that far above .500 since the 2019 season.

Manager Aaron Boone and the Yankees simply couldn't have asked for more from their bullpen. From opener Wandy Peralta to rookies Stephen Ridings and Albert Abreu, it was all hands on deck with each reliever getting at least one inning on the mound.

In fact, nine different arms trotting in from the 'pen was historic. Discounting games played in September, Friday night marked the most pitchers used in a single contest in franchise history. New York also became the first team in the modern era (since 1900) to win a game in extra innings without any pitcher throwing two innings, per Stats by STATS. 

Abreu wound up earning the win, the first of his big-league career, by twirling a perfect 11th and stranding the automatic runner (and go-ahead run) at second base. 

On offense, New York finished the game 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position. That's a testament to the dominance of Seattle's starter Marco Gonzales—who threw 6.2 shutout innings—but overall, the Bombers were simply unable to capitalize on run-scoring opportunities.

That changed in the 10th as Giancarlo Stanton extended the contest with a two-out single to shallow right, tying the ballgame after the Mariners jumped in front in the top of the frame. 

Aaron Judge's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth was the only run New York was able to score before heading to extra innings. They started that inning with the bases loaded and nobody out, coming away with just one run. 

In the 11th, with Gallo starting on second base, the Mariners intentionally walked Rougned Odor with one man out. After a strikeout, Gardner stepped up to the plate with another chance to win the game. 

Two innings earlier, the outfielder was in the exact same scenario, working a nine-pitch at-bat before popping out on a high fastball to end the threat and send the game to extras. 

This time, Gardner got on top of a two-strike heater at the top of the zone, ripping a line drive right back up the box, rounding first base before getting mobbed by his teammates.

It was Gardner's ninth career walk-off, his first since 2017.

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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