There was little reason to believe that Will Warren would provide much length. The pitch count told the story on Friday night — the Yankees' right-hander needed a whopping 36 pitches to complete a peculiar first inning against the Athletics that included three walks and three strikeouts.
But the shaky start to Warren's outing didn't perturb him or force early movement in the bullpen. The rookie proceeded to throw 39 pitches across his next three innings, and his seven strikeouts over five scoreless frames did just the trick in the team's decently-paced 3-0 victory in the Bronx.
The recovery job demonstrated further growth from Warren, who passed another big-league test as a reliable arm in the Yankees' rotation. He finished June with a sharp 2.86 ERA (five starts, 28.1 innings), and among AL pitchers who've logged at least 80 innings, his K/9 rate (11.54) currently ranks first.
"It's baseball. [That first inning] is going to happen. You try to take the positives," Warren said after the win. "Sometimes I'm good at executing the corners. Tonight I was kind of spraying the ball a little bit. So it's like, 'Alright, let's throw it to the bigger part of the plate and let them put the ball in play'… I think we had a good gameplan going on and we executed it."
Warren now owns a 4.37 ERA through 17 starts this season, and his 103 strikeouts rank first among AL rookies. The 26-year-old also leads the majors in called punchouts (38), and his fWAR ranks third among all rookies.
Judged for a walk?
Cody Bellinger bumped the Yankees' lead to 2-0 in the third inning with an RBI single to center that drove in Anthony Volpe. It was also a matchup that the Athletics wanted.
With one out and Volpe on second, the Athletics elected to intentionally walk Aaron Judge, and by taking the bat out of the superstar slugger's hands, Bellinger stepped up to the plate with a chance to do damage. He did just that, providing what turned out to be their first insurance run.
Nobody can seriously blame the Athletics for offering Judge a free pass to first — creating a force out at any base — and taking their chances with Bellinger in the box. But the lefty slugger has made opponents pay for that particular move. He's now 6-for-15 (.400) with two extra-base hits and seven RBI following an intentional walk to Judge this season.
"Understandable. [Judge is] the best hitter on the planet," Bellinger said. "For me, it's just like any other at-bat — what's my plan and how can I execute in this situation? A baseball season is full of ups and downs… I like where we're at. I love this group of guys… I'm excited for the future, and just going to keep on rolling."
Funny enough, the Athletics were forced to pitch to Judge with the bases loaded in the fourth, but starter Mitch Spence worked out of the jam by striking out the Yankees' captain on an elevated cutter.
Stroman ready to return
Before the game, Yankees manager Aaron Boone wasn't willing to appoint Marcus Stroman as their starter for Sunday, but there's no longer any curiosity on the matter. Boone confirmed after the win that the veteran right-hander will be activated from the injured list and pitch the series finale.
Stroman, who went on the shelf in mid-April with left knee inflammation, didn't look too sharp during his June rehab assignment. In 10.1 total innings with Double-A Somerset (three starts), he allowed eight earned runs on 10 hits and five walks with nine strikeouts.
The 34-year-old struggled prior to his injury, producing a ghastly 11.57 ERA across 9.1 innings (three starts). He gave up five runs on four hits and three walks and logged only two outs against the Giants back on April 11.
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