WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Yankees do seem to like Ryan Weathers, but they have a funny way of showing it for their new teammate.
The left-hander took the mound on Saturday night and an offense that had been red-hot went cold, until it was too little, too late — just barely.
The Yankees’ one run before the ninth inning gave Weathers little margin for error, and another strong outing for him turned sour when he gave up his third home run of the night on his 107th and final pitch — resulting in five runs overall — as the Yankees snapped a five-game winning streak with a 6-4 loss to the Athletics at Sutter Health Park.
The Yankees made a wild — emphasis on the wild — last push in the top of the ninth, loading the bases with two outs and forcing in three runs on three straight full-count walks by Ben Rice, Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger. But Jazz Chisholm Jr. grounded out to end it, leaving the tying run at second base in crushing fashion.
“It’s a tough one to swallow, but just got to move on from it,” Weathers said.
After stranding a pair of runners in the top of the seventh, the Yankees (35-23) trailed 3-1 as Weathers went back out to the mound and retired the first two batters in the bottom of the inning. He then walked leadoff hitter Colby Thomas on a full count, at which point Aaron Boone went to the mound to check on him.
The Yankees manager wanted the left-on-left matchup against Nick Kurtz, but it backfired, as Weathers’ next pitch was a 94 mph fastball up and in that Kurtz deposited just over the wall in center field to put the A’s (28-30) up 5-1.
Boone said he did not second-guess the decision to keep Weathers in to face Kurtz, but indicated he could have pulled him before facing Thomas.
“I feel like kind of kicking myself — probably after he got the second out, through the bottom [of the order] … definitely a case there to go for the leadoff hitter,” said Boone, who had Camilo Doval warming but wanted to keep the A’s lefty hitters on the bench. “I don’t’ question leaving him in there for Kurtz, I’m going to take my left-on-left shot there with two outs. But after he got those first two, and throwing quite a few pitches to that point, that’s the one where maybe I go to Doval there.”
It made for a rough ending on a night when Weathers struck out 10 across 6 ²/₃ innings but was victimized by three long balls — a two-run homer from Shea Langeliers in the first inning, a solo shot from Tyler Soderstrom in the sixth and the two-run blast from Kurtz in the seventh — and a lack of support from his offense.
For the eighth time in Weathers’ 11 starts, the Yankees scored two runs or fewer while he was in the game. They have now averaged 2.95 runs scored per nine innings while Weathers is pitching, the fourth-lowest mark among qualified starters.
This week alone, Yankees starters had received plenty of run support, only for that to dry up on Saturday for their first loss in over a week.
“I put them in a bad spot giving two runs up in the first,” Weathers said. “This is a game of momentum, so if we don’t score, I got to put up a zero and just keep momentum. We create momentum if we score and same for them. I gave them momentum early and this is a game of that. I just can’t do that.”
In a dugout that had no tunnel to the clubhouse (in center field), Weathers expressed his frustration in full view of the cameras after coming out of the game, slamming his glove and other objects after an otherwise encouraging night was spoiled.
“It’s just a competitive kid that pitched his heart out, pitched a whale of a game, frankly,” Boone said. “Two-run homer there to finish sours it, but thought he threw the ball great.”
The Yankees nearly finished off a furious comeback in the top of the ninth, when they recorded one single and five walks against A’s relievers Jack Perkins and Scott Barlow. Before Chisholm grounded out, the Yankees had taken just one swing in their last 27 pitches as the A’s almost self-destructed.
“Love the finish,” Boone said, “just didn’t quite get over the hump there.”
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