There’s a saying in baseball that “the ball will always find you.”
Usually that’s reserved for outfielders coming into a game for the first time, but on Friday night in Cleveland, it applied to the Yankees reliever Mark Leiter Jr.
The right-hander was acquired from the Cubs at the trade deadline this season in the Yankees’ biggest move to strengthen the bullpen. Unfortunately for him, the manager made for an up and down last few months of the year Aaron Boone and the organization made the difficult decision to leave Leiter off the ALDS and ALCS rosters.
But because of Ian HamiltonDue to his injury, Leiter was activated for Game 4 and will be part of the team for the rest of the series. So naturally, the 33-year-old was asked to make some of the biggest outs of the night.
After Clay Holmes allowed three runs in the seventh inning, Leiter was asked to maintain a 6-5 lead with runners on first and second base and one out.
“I still had a long way to go to the finish and honestly I wasn’t quite sure how we were going to get there,” Boone explained. “I know [Leiter’s] if he’s efficient, he’ll have to endure a slew of lefties. He did a great job. Managed contact, except Naylor got the leadoff double, man, I thought he was really good.
The longtime Yankees skipper said he wasn’t sure Johnkensy Noelthe hero of Game 3, would pinch-hit to meet Leiter in that situation. But Boone trusted Leiter, who rewarded his manager by letting Noel fly Andres Gimenez to get out of the inning with a lead.
Leiter scored the tying run in the eighth on a soft grounder from David Frits was failed by both the right-handed and Anthony Rizzo at first base. Despite the hiccup, Leiter never gave up and gave the Yankees five huge outs. And it allowed the offense to take the lead in the ninth, eventually winning 8-6.
“It’s unreal. That’s a really tough spot to be in and throw out there. He was up for the challenge,” Giancarlo Stanton said of Leiter’s performance. “I could see it in his preparation and in his eyes. It’s very similar to the first time he was traded here. He came here and in the second or third inning he was thrown into the fire and got it done. He’ll be big for us.”
Friday marked Leiter’s first appearance in an MLB game since September 29, almost three weeks ago. And yet he showed why the Yankees coveted him at the trade deadline.
Leiter said he kept himself ready during that time by doing his mound work and working on things he “escaped” during the regular season during his bullpens and live BP. But Boone made sure to tell the right-hander to be ready to pick, and the five-year reliever was willing to do so.
“Boonie kept telling me to be ready for anything and to be used to getting big outs,” he said after the game. “That’s how it happened. I just tried to stay ready and stay sharp, and when my name was called, I went out and did my job.
‘A case must be made for him [on the postseason roster] both times. The Last Guy retired,” Boone said of the decision to leave Leiter off the ALCS roster. “He’s been through a lot this year. Had a great year with the Cubs, gets traded at the deadline, big play for us. Up and down for us, had some success, then some struggles didn’t materialize… What I said before the game was, ‘You might end up in the biggest spot in this game’ and he was ready and he delivered. “
With the Yankees’ bullpen worn down, Leiter provided some much-needed length with a new arm. He will be used again, if not in this series, then in the World Series. the Yankees will have to win one more game before then, and their first chance comes in Game 5 on Saturday.
