The Yankees viewed Wednesday’s game as one they could not afford to let slip, and they were prepared to empty the tank to chase down a win.
Trailing Minnesota 2-0 in the seventh inning, Aaron Boone pushed aggressively. With runners at second and third and the game close to getting away, he summoned Brent Headrick for his 77th appearance of the season, second most among major league pitchers behind only Toronto’s Mason Fluharty. Headrick escaped the inning, then came back out for the eighth, bringing his season workload to 75 ⅔ innings.
The move seemed to pay dividends in the ninth, when Anthony Volpe’s two-run double evened the score. But the comeback required even more mileage from the Yankees bullpen. Boone called on Paul Blackburn, who has now logged 81 ⅔ innings in his first full campaign as a reliever, to deliver a scoreless ninth. David Bednar followed for the 10th and, with neither club able to break through, the 11th as well. Bednar, already at 66 ⅓ innings and having thrown four high-pressure frames in the World Baseball Classic, added another 26 pitches with fewer than two weeks remaining before the postseason.
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Boone’s urgency was understandable. The Yankees are attempting to stay even with the Rays, and they know firsthand how much is at stake in winning the division and securing a first-round bye.