MILWAUKEE — The Yankees picked up Michael Tonkin off waivers Thursday and threw him right into the fire Friday.
Both parties got burned.
After the Yankees took a one-run lead in the top of the 10th, Tonkin allowed the tying run to score in the bottom of the inning before the Brewers walked it off on him in the 11th for a 7-6 win at American Family Field.
Joey Ortiz delivered the dagger, shooting a hard ground ball past third baseman Jahmai Jones — more of a second baseman who had pinch-run for Anthony Rizzo in the top of the inning and was the last man on the bench — to score the winning run from third in a difficult spot for Tonkin.
“I think baseball in general is tough,” Tonkin said. “Still gotta go out and do your job.”
On a night when Luis Gil lasted just five innings, the Yankees (17-10) already had used four relievers to get to the 10th inning, including Clay Holmes throwing a 10-pitch bottom of the ninth.
Before Friday, the closer had last pitched on Tuesday, but manager Aaron Boone said he was not going to use Holmes for a second inning given his heavy early-season workload and injuries elsewhere in the bullpen.
“He’s on about an 80-game pace in April, and with some of the attrition we’ve had in our bullpen, wasn’t going to send the closer out for — I’ll do four outs this time of year and those kind of things, but wasn’t going to send him out for second inning,” Boone said.
So Boone called on Tonkin, who along with lefty Victor Gonzalez were the last men available in the bullpen.
The right-hander, who offered length, had been designated for assignment three times this month, including twice by the Mets, the most recent one on Monday sending him into limbo until the Yankees claimed him on Thursday.
He stranded the winning run at third base in the 10th inning, but after the Yankees went down quietly in the top of the 11th, the Brewers (17-8) pounced in the bottom of the frame.
“Definitely a tough spot,” Boone said. “But he’s got a lot of experience. I thought he threw the ball well and didn’t back down at all. That’s just where we were in the game of what we had left. Not the softest landing, for sure, but thought he came in and got after it.”
hitting a first-inning homer in the Yankees’ loss. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
Giancarlo Stanton, who has struggled as a pinch-hitter during his career (3-for-42 entering Friday), delivered off the bench in the top of the 10th inning.
He drilled a leadoff double to the gap to score the automatic runner for the 6-5 lead, though the Yankees were unable to add on from there.
Then in the top of the 11th, they had the contact play on with one out and Jones at third base.
Alex Verdugo hit a comebacker to the mound and though Jones raced home, he was out by a few feet on the throw by pitcher Jared Koenig.
“Contact, you’re selling out,” Boone said. “You’re going to be out on a lineout too, because you gotta make it a 50-50 play. That play with it going to the mound there, probably gives you an even better chance. Chances are a lot of pitchers aren’t going to handle that ball. … But you don’t have the hindsight. You’re selling out on first step.”
Three home runs by Juan Soto, Verdugo and Trent Grisham had given the Yankees a 5-4 lead by the top of the fourth inning.
From there, though, their offense went quiet. Brewers right-hander Colin Rea and the bullpen went on to retire 10 in a row and 13 of the next 14, keeping the Yankees at bay.
The Brewers tied it in the sixth when ex-Yankee Gary Sanchez knocked Gil out of the game with a leadoff double and eventually came home to score on a sacrifice fly.
“We had some chances to really tack on there and just couldn’t put it away and make it an awesome offensive night,” Boone said. “Five through regulation, add another big one there with G’s hit to get us to six. Pretty good offensive night overall, just not quite enough to get that next level of back-breaker.”
