Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees' Jameson Taillon Takes Perfect Game Into Eighth Inning in Dramatic Win Over Angels

Taillon finished with eight innings of one-run ball and after being held down for much of the game, the Yankees woke up on offense at the perfect time.

Max Goodman

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Jameson Taillon flirted with history on Thursday night, taking a perfect game into the eighth inning against the Angels.

The right-hander wasn't able to finish the no-hitter—allowing two hits and a run to score after retiring the first 21 batters he faced—but the Yankees were able to pick him up on offense just in the nick of time.

Anthony Rizzo delivered a go-ahead, two-run single with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the eighth, a clutch, pinch-hit knock that was just enough for the Yankees to sneak past the Angels and sweep both games of Thursday's doubleheader. 

Clay Holmes ran into some trouble in the top of the ninth, loading the bases with two outs, but he was able to tiptoe out of the jam for his seventh save of the season in a 2-1 win.

Taillon's magical night began with seven spotless innings. One outing after his eight-inning masterpiece against the Rays, the right-hander took perfection into the eighth with five strikeouts.

Just three pitches into that frame, however, left fielder Brandon Marsh deflected a hard ground ball off the glove of shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa behind the second base bag. As it trickled into shallow center field, Marsh scampered to second safely for a double.

Later in the inning, veteran catcher Kurt Suzuki took advantage of one of Taillon's only mistakes of the night, slicing an RBI single into shallow left on a two-strike slider. 

At that point, New York was losing 1-0. The Yankees had gone 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position through the first seven innings, leaving eight runners on base.

Just when the offense looked like it would go out quietly and Taillon's special performance would be squandered, New York capitalized and jumped in front.

Miguel Andújar set the table with an opposite-field double, advancing to third on a wild pitch (and ball four) to Kiner-Falefa. Then, Aaron Hicks walked to load the bases, all with one out.

After a Joey Gallo strikeout, Rizzo came off the bench to hit for catcher Kyle Higashioka with the game on the line. Down 1-2 in the count, choking up on his bat, Rizzo poked the game-winning single right back up the middle, sparking an emphatic roar from a crowd of 33,476 fans in the Bronx.  

With the dramatic win, after cruising to a victory in Game 1 of the doubleheader earlier in the afternoon, New York is now 21 games over .500. Their 36 wins is the most in the American League.

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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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