The Yankees had a bead on Seattle Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz.
That’s according to M’s catcher Cal Raleigh, who believes Muñoz was tipping pitches during the ninth inning of the Yankees’ come-from-behind 6-5 win on Thursday night.
“He was tipping it every time at second base,” Raleigh said afterward, according to The Athletic. “Obviously, they weren’t making it very discreet, I guess is the word. It’s part of the game. It’s our job. We should have known about that going into the series. That made it really hard there at the end.”
Yankees baserunners Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger appeared to wave their hands from second base when Muñoz would throw a slider.
Rice laid off a 3-2 slider that was well outside the strike zone to walk and load the bases with two outs. Austin Wells similarly took a 2-0 slider before lining a fastball into right field for a two-run single that tied the game.
“You try to do as much as you can without trying to distract him from what’s happening at the plate,” Raleigh said. “That’s something that we will have to figure out in the next couple of days for sure.”
Mariners starter Bryan Woo held the Yankees hitless through seven innings, but the Yankees erupted for three runs against Woo and reliever Matt Brash in the eighth, cutting their deficit to 5-3.
That remained the score going into the ninth, when Muñoz — a flame-throwing right-hander who was selected for the All-Star team — entered the game with a 1.06 ERA.
The Yankees tagged Muñoz for two runs on three hits and a walk to force extra innings, where Aaron Judge delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly in the 10th.
“One of the best closers in the game,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Muñoz. “With his angle and his stuff, he’s really tough for righties, but I felt like our lefties would at least give him quality at-bats, and they sure did.”
Muñoz did not speak to reporters after the loss, while Mariners manager Dan Wilson said he did not believe his closer was tipping pitches.
“I think we just got ourselves into some tough counts and they were able to take advantage of it,” Wilson said.
It was Muñoz’s sixth blown save in 27 opportunities.
The comeback capped a three-game sweep by the Yankees in a series headlined by baseball’s two biggest power threats. Raleigh hit his MLB-leading 36th home run in Tuesday night’s series opener, a half-inning after Judge struck his 34th.
