Kings for a day: How Michael King and the underdogs saved Yankees in win over Blue Jays

NEW YORK – Yankees' radio announcer John Sterling has a saying for nights like these.

You can't predict baseball, Suzyn.

How else to describe a game where Michael King picked up his first career save after a ninth inning meltdown from Aroldis Chapman? Or one where the offensive catalysts were the light-hitting Jose Trevino and Isiah Kiner-Falefa at the bottom of the Yankee order?

All told, it helped the Yankees beat the Blue Jays, 3-0, and salvage a four-game split on a soggy Thursday night in the Bronx. A game that started with a 90-minute weather delay ended with King working out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam.

"We have a ton of confidence in Kinger there and know he wasn't going to be afraid of the situation," manager Aaron Boone said. "I just felt like, in that spot at that time, it was the right thing to do."

Good to be King

Boone was presented a dilemma after Chapman issued three straight walks to start the ninth.

And with Jonathan Loaisiga unavailable after back-to-back outings, the Yankee skipper went down the pecking order in a time of crisis.

So on came King – with "tons of adrenaline" – to face the top of the vaunted Blue Jays order.

"I was moving around and staying ready," King said. "When the phone rang, I knew that only righties were coming up next and it could be my name."

King proceeded to strike out George Springer and get Bo Bichette to line out to DJ LeMahieu, who then doubled off Matt Chapman at first. Afterward, King joked that he'll remember his first big-league save, even though he's forgotten the two he collected in the minors.

"I really wasn't thinking about it in the moment, said King, 26. "But afterward, (Anthony) Rizzo gave me the ball. I thought it was pretty cool."

Dialed in

Up until the end, the story of the night was Luis Severino, who held the Blue Jays to two hits over five scoreless innings.

Severino slapped his mitt and roared off the mound after striking out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on his final pitch of the night.

It wasn't only an important point in the game for Severino, who fanned six batters on 83 pitches. It was a welcome-back moment for the pitcher who's essentially lost three straight years due to injuries.

"I knew that was my last hitter," Severino said. "So I knew if I didn't get Guerrero there, I would be out. It was really exciting. I haven't thrown five innings in forever."

And by shutting down the returning AL MVP runner-up, Severino managed to do what ace Gerrit Cole couldn't the night before.

As noted on the YES Network telecast, Severino became the first pitcher to strike out Guerrero Jr. three times in a game. In fact, Guerrero Jr. is now hitless in five career at-bats against the Yankees' right-hander.

"I want to help my team and not only for me, but for the fans," Severino said. "I've been away for a long time and I want to go out there, compete and show the fans that I still have it."

Unsung heroes emerge

One area of concern during the first week was the lack of offense, particularly at the bottom of the Yankees' order.

There was little to show for from Kiner-Falefa (1-for-17) or the catcher position (2-for-21) through the first six games of the season.

That is what made the Yankees' series finale against Toronto so noteworthy.

Kiner-Falefa silenced the boo-birds, going 3-for-3 at the plate, scoring two runs and reaching base on a well-executed push bunt.

"I think the first couple of games, I was very tentative," Kiner-Falefa said. "I was letting a lot of pitches go. Today something clicked. I was aggressive. I felt like myself today."

Catcher Jose Trevino (2-for-3) drove in the Yankee shortstop twice on RBI singles in the third and fifth innings. The Yankees' backup even threw in a stolen base after swiping only one bag in 158 career games entering the night.

The Yankees pushed across another insurance run in the eighth when Aaron Judge scampered home on a groundout by Giancarlo Stanton.

Next up

The Yankees (4-3) will kick off their first road trip of the season on Friday with three-game stops in Baltimore and Detroit.

The Orioles were an especially pesky foe for the Yankees last season, despite finishing with an American League-worst 110 losses. Baltimore won eight of 19 meetings in the season-series, a major reason why the Wild Card game was held in Fenway Park.

"I think it was a little bit of an off-year for us offensively," said Boone, whose club ranked 19th in scoring.

"We didn't put teams away, regardless of who they were, on as many nights as we should have or could have."

Boone and the Yankee offense will get their first look at the newly renovated Camden Yards, where the left field wall was raised and pushed back 26.5 feet. Left-hander Jordan Montgomery will take the ball for his second start of the season.

"The bottom line is Baltimore is a better team than they have been the last couple of years," Boone said before adding: "We learned last year that if we don't play well, they're going to beat us."

Sean Farrell is a sports reporter for NorthJersey.com. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis from our Varsity Aces team, subscribe today. To get breaking news directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter and download our app.

Email: farrells@northjersey.com

Twitter: @seanfarrell92

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Michael King: Yankees reliever saves Aroldis Chapman vs. Blue Jays