With the Yankees leading 3-0 in the eighth inning of Monday’s series-opener against the Padres, Aaron Boone turned to Devin Williams.
The right-hander had been sharp since being removed as the Yankees’ closer, but his short-lived stretch of success came to an end after a one-out walk to former Yankee Tyler Wade, a single from ex-Yankees prospect Brandon Lockridge and a two-out walk to Luis Arraez. With the bases loaded and two away – Padres manager Mike Shildt earned an ejection with a fiery tirade after a Fernando Tatis Jr. strikeout — Boone was forced to call on Luke Weaver.
Weaver has been handling the Yankees’ save opportunities since Williams lost that responsibility, but he failed to bail his fellow reliever out as Manny Machado smoked a two-run double to put San Diego down one. Xander Bogaerts then added two more runs with a line drive single to center.
The knock gave San Diego a 4-3 lead, a score that held as the Yankees lost the twice-delayed, rainy affair.
While Weaver surrendered the decisive hits – he entered with a 0.00 ERA – three of the Padres’ four eighth-inning runs were charged to Williams. Williams has now allowed 13 earned runs this season – the same total he combined for in 2023 and 2024 with Milwaukee – and has a 10.03 ERA.
His latest poor performance and Weaver’s insufficient follow-up wasted another impressive outing from Carlos Rodón, who logged his fourth straight quality start. The left-hander, leaning primarily on his heater, slider and changeup, blanked San Diego for 6.2 innings while permitting just three hits and striking out five over 95 pitches.
Rodón, who entered the game with an 11.6 BB% – the fifth-highest mark in the league – also issued just one free pass despite the slippery conditions.
With just two earned runs allowed over his last four outings, Rodón now has a 2.96 ERA this season after some earlier starts were doomed by walks and longballs.
Rodón wasn’t the only Yankee who continued to be the best version of himself on Monday, as Trent Grisham extended his splendid start to the season with a two-run homer off Nick Pivetta in the third inning for his ninth longball of the season.
A Padre from 2020-2023, Grisham joined the Yankees in the Juan Soto trade two offseasons ago. The Bombers hardly used the talented defender in 2024, as Grisham only appeared in 76 games.
Now a near-everyday player in the Yankees’ crowded outfield and a go-to leadoff option, Grisham has already matched his 2024 home run total and owns an unexpected 1.010 OPS.
The Yankees added a run in the sixth inning after Paul Goldschmidt singled, stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error from Padres catcher Elias Díaz. Anthony Volpe, back from a banged-up shoulder, brought Goldschmidt home with a sac fly, but that wasn’t enough to protect against the Padres’ comeback efforts.
With the first-place Yankees falling to the second-place Padres, the two teams will hope for better weather on Tuesday, though that’s not necessarily in the forecast.
An intriguing pitching matchup is, however, as Clarke Schmidt will face former Yankees teammate Michael King.
The two uber-confident righties and friends saw their names mentioned in rumors prior to the Soto deal, but San Diego insisted on King after he transitioned from the bullpen to the Yankees’ rotation down the stretch in 2023. King has continued to shine as starter, recording a 2.80 ERA over 212.1 innings since the trade.
That led Aaron Boone to call him a “beast” on Monday.
“He’s become everything you would have hoped for,” the skipper added. “I can’t say I’m surprised.”
Schmidt, meanwhile, has a 5.52 ERA through three starts after nagging injuries delayed his season debut. He was actually supposed to start on Saturday against the Rays, but left flank soreness bumped him to Tuesday and set up the duel with King.
