Ron Marinaccio undeterred by poor outing in Yankees' loss to Rays
Despite the injuries to the Yankees’ roster, the bullpen has mostly done its job early in the season, especially Ron Marinaccio.
The 27-year-old has cemented himself as one of the premiere middle relievers in baseball, but on Thursday night against the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays, he had a rare off night.
With two outs and one on in the sixth inning, and the Yankees down just 1-0, Marinaccio was called upon to get the last out in relief of Domingo German. The first batter was Luke Raley. He got ahead of the hitter 1-2 before Raley fouled off Marinaccio’s signature changeup. He then followed up with a 93 mph fastball over the plate that led to a single.
Marinaccio then hit Manuel Margot before facing Josh Lowe with the bases loaded. He got Lowe to foul off a changeup low in the zone, but Marinaccio went back to it, this time a little higher, and Lowe smashed it to the wall for a bases-clearing double that essentially put the game away as the Rays won 8-2.
Manager Aaron Boone said after the game that he was surprised to see Marinaccio miss with the changeup in that Lowe at-bat, but ultimately added how his reliever didn’t have it.
“He had Raley ahead in the count, too,” Boone said. “Didn’t get the heater where he wanted to. Hits Margot and then Lowe put a good at-bat on him. Just not sharp tonight.”
Marinaccio explained afterwards he wasn't necessarily concerned with his changeup as he was with his location.
“Looking back at the Raley at-bat really stings,” he said. “Had him 1-2 ahead in the count and he got a base hit on that one. Hitting Margot there and then throwing a couple of good changeups there to Lowe and he puts a good swing on it and that’s the result.”
Entering Thursday, Marinaccio gave up just three earned runs in 13 appearances this season (16.1 innings). He gave up three (one inherited) in that 0.1 inning of work against the Rays so it was understandable when Marinaccio was continually asked what happened.
While the media searched for answers, Marinaccio remained calm and confident, especially in his changeup. But thinking it over, he believes he may need to change his approach, especially against a team he’s faced a lot in his two seasons in the league.
“It could have been I followed up that last [changeup] with a similar location, and seeing it twice in a row allowed Lowe to put a good swing on it,” Marinaccio offered. “It’s a pitch that’s been super successful for me. I’ve faced these guys a decent amount of times so far the last couple of years so I may be picking up on some tendencies. I have to make sure to mix it up, moving it in and out. Stuff like that.”
The Yankees’ loss Thursday put them nine games back of the Rays in the AL East standings. Tampa Bay is also now 3-1 against New York this season but the team and Marinaccio aren’t bothered too much by the loss.
There are still three games left in this series and their ace Gerrit Cole is on the mound Friday looking to even the series. And while the Yankees can’t wait for Cole to start Friday, Marinaccio can’t wait to put this poor outing behind him.
“It stings like any other loss,” Marinaccio said. ”Luckily we have three more and we get to go out there with Gerrit on the bump. Looking forward to getting back out there next time I’m called.”
