PITTSBURGH – Will Warren didn’t have his best stuff at PNC Park on Sunday, contributing to a 5-4, 11-inning Yankees loss and a missed opportunity to sweep the lowly Pirates.
Warren, making his second start of the season, retired the first eight batters he faced, but trouble found him in the third inning after a two-out walk to former Yankee Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Ke’Bryan Hayes followed with a single before Bryan Reynolds hit a two-run double. That put Pittsburgh up 2-1 after Jazz Chisholm Jr. roped an RBI double off Andrew Heaney — another ex-Yankee — in the first inning.
Warren needed 37 pitches to get through the third and had more issues in the fourth. A one-out triple from Enmanuel Valdez set Tommy Pham up for a sac fly. Adam Frazier then singled before Kiner-Falefa drove him home with a double.
All in all, Warren totaled four innings, six hits, four earned runs, one walk, five strikeouts and 87 pitches. The Pirates had seven hard-hit balls off him.
Warren ended up with a better line after grinding through his first start of the season on April 1, as he held the Diamondbacks’ deadly offense to two earned runs over five frames despite walking four that day.
While Warren wasn’t as successful on Sunday, the Yankees have done nothing but rave about the 25-year-old rookie since spring training began. Still, he may not be long for the team’s rotation, as Clarke Schmidt is expected back on April 15 or 16 against the Royals.
Unlike Carlos Carrasco – the other last-minute addition to the Yankees’ injury-ravaged rotation – Warren has a minor league option and can be demoted. That may make Warren the odd man out by default, regardless of how his next start goes, once Schmidt returns if the rest of the rotation stays healthy.
Of course, Aaron Boone said he won’t worry about that bridge until he has to cross it.
Schmidt, who battled shoulder fatigue during spring training, made his first of two rehab starts at Double-A Somerset on Saturday. The righty logged 3.1 scoreless innings, one hit, one walk, seven strikeouts, 52 pitches and 37 strikes against the Hartford Yard Goats.
Boone said that Schmidt’s next rehab start will come on normal rest, though he wasn’t sure if he would pitch at Double-A or Triple-A before joining the Yankees.
While Warren wasn’t able to shut the Pirates down, the Yankees’ bats didn’t help their cause after Chisholm’s double.
Heaney looked excellent against his old team, striking out 10 batters over seven innings of one-run ball. He also tallied five hits, one walk and an even 100 pitches.
The Yankees did tie things up in the ninth, as Oswald Peraza hit an RBI double before Trent Grisham knocked a two-run single. However, they squandered opportunities in the 10th and 11th innings.
Pham then won it for the Buccos with a walk-off single against Devin Williams in the bottom of the 11th inning.
The Yankees’ first road trip of the season will now take them to Detroit, where chilly temperatures await. So will some talented pitchers, as Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal and Jack Flaherty are lined up for the Tigers.
Skubal won the American League Cy Young Award last year but has allowed seven earned runs over his first 10.2 innings this season.
Carlos Rodón will start the opener for the Yankees on Monday. He’ll be followed by Carassco and Max Fried.
