Yankees’ Michael King strikes eight in dominant outing

In retrospect, after Goalies left fielder Josh Naylor found himself at second base in the sixth inning, he should have been greeted with high-fives from a visiting party dugout.

After all, he actually put his bat on a pitch thrown by Michael King.

The reliever was nearly untouchable in three relief innings in the Yankees’ 4-1 win over Cleveland on Friday night at Stadium, contributing eight of the team’s 15 strikeouts – including seven in a row, one shy of the record of the franchise.

King took over from Jameson Taillon, who allowed a run in five innings, and made the Guardians dream for the starter. King, who said he felt ‘terrible’ in his bullpen session before the game, faced 10 batters: he allowed a single to Amed Rosario, the ground by Naylor and hit the other eight .

He knocked out Bobby Bradley to finish the sixth, then sniffed the team in the seventh and eighth innings, falling to one strikeout from the Yankees’ record eight in a row, set by Ron Davis in 1981.

“Boonie, come on!” King responded jokingly when informed that he would have had a chance in the story had the manager let him.

King, who found a home as a multi-inning option out of the bullpen rather than pitching in the rotation, lowered his ERA to 0.84. He gave up an earned run in 10 ²/₃ innings and put out several fires, although he only needed to put out Guardians batters this time.

“He’s a really talented dude. Super jealous of the lead-slider-curveball combo, whatever he wants to call it,” Taillon said of King.

The entire arsenal consists of sinker, quadruple crimp, curve ball and change, all of which were activated. He recorded a strikeout with each of his four pitches and said it was the first time all season he could command them all.

Normally, if one or two of his throws are activated, he can survive a sortie. He was doing more than surviving.

“When I have the four, it allows me to do fun stuff and play with the players, really throw them off balance,” said King, who edged Jose Ramirez with a lead and four seams before finishing the star. with a change.

Few relievers have such a deep repertoire. The more King, who has started a lot in the past, dominates in short bursts, the more the Yankees will be questioned about whether or when they want him back in the rotation.

“Not at the moment,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Just because he’s so valuable in that role. He closed a game. He has the ability to come in and give us a few innings like he did tonight. We have five starters right now.

But, the official added, “the book is certainly not closed on that.”