For six innings, James Paxton was so good.
When he went out for the seventh, it all fell apart, and it happened when manager Aaron Boone saw that a 3-0 lead disappeared. The Yankees would lose, at 4-3, to the Rays at Tropicana Field on Sunday.
Why did not Boone Paxton save himself? He said he advised his decision to let the left-hander in second, but that managers ‘always do that a little’ after the fact.
“Field like 85-90 (pitches) with Pax today was where we were comfortable going,” Boone said. ‘And then, after he got the pop-up from (Hunter) Renfroe for the first time out after the double, I have to look back, but it looked like he made a decent pitch for (Mike Brosseau) got his head for the two- run homer. And then I wanted him (Brandon) Lowe to meet then for the lefty-on-lefty for his last hitter and Lowe got him. “
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Boon let Paxton in to deliver a two-run shot to Brosseau and a solo bomb to Lowe in a span of three pitches.
“You’ll always do that if you’re someone who’s going there, but also felt it was good to get it,” Boone said of Paxton.
Paxton, who struck out 11, said he felt comfortable going into the inning. He finished with a season-high 87 pitches.
He said he was ‘extremely’ frustrated at how his otherwise strong start turned out.
“It’s hard,” Paxton said. ‘It went really well and through the seventh inning a few bad pitches ran up and they made me pay. But it was good for me to build up. ”
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