Randy Vasquez and the Yankees knew that the Padres’ lineup would test the 24-year-old pitcher in his major league debut Friday. But Vasquez nearly passed with flying colors — until Juan Soto got ahold of a cutter in the fifth inning.
With a runner on first, Soto drove the pitch 432 feet at 114.1 miles per hour. The second-deck deposit started the scoring in a 5-1 series-opening win for the Padres.
Still, Vasquez exited to applause a few batters later, as he threw the ball well before Soto went deep.
With just nine starts of Triple-A experience, Vasquez appeared comfortable on the mound at Yankee Stadium, totaling four hits, two earned runs, three walks and six strikeouts over 4.2 innings and 84 pitches. He also hit a batter.
“He threw the ball well,” said bench coach Carlos Mendoza, who filled in for suspended manager Aaron Boone. “First outing in the big leagues, Yankee Stadium, Friday night crowd, against a pretty good lineup. I thought his body language, his mound presence was good.
“I’m pretty sure he grew up watching those guys like [Fernando Tatis Jr.] and Soto, and now he’s here competing against those guys. Overall, I thought he handled it really well.”
It looked as if Vasquez, a Dominican native like Tatis Jr. and Soto, was in for a rough debut when he walked two in the first, but he escaped trouble and settled in for a few innings after that. Vasquez, pitching in the first big league game he ever attended, performed in front of cousins, uncles and his grandfather, who celebrated his birthday on Friday.
“Really, really, really great feeling going out there and warming up and getting ready for the start,” Vasquez said. “I took a moment and I looked around, and you can see how majestic Yankee Stadium is. So many thoughts came into my mind at that moment, and I just thanked god for this opportunity, and my family, who helped me so much along the way to get here.”
As expected, the Yankees sent Vasquez back to Triple-A after the game. He only made one big mistake, but the Padres weren’t done with the second deck. After Soto went to right field, Tatis Jr. took care of the left side with his own two-run missile off Ron Marinaccio in the sixth.
Vasquez only made one big mistake, but the Padres weren’t done with the second deck. After Soto went to right field, Fernando Tatis Jr. took care of the left side with his own two-run missile off Ron Marinaccio in the sixth.
Tatis Jr., who heard “steroids” chants from the Bronx faithful in the first inning, admired the shot before circling the bases.
“Probably,” Aaron Judge said when asked if the crowd’s jeers motivated Tatis Jr. “I’m not too sure. That’s probably a better question for him, but I think he was locked in. He was ready to go.”
The Padres added another run in the ninth when ex-Yankee Rougned Odor picked up an RBI single off Ryan Weber.
The Bombers’ offense, meanwhile, had a hard time with Joe Musgrove. The right-hander went 6.1 innings while holding the Yankees to one run. He also surrendered six hits and struck out six batters without walking any.
“His ball was moving all over the place,” said DJ LeMahieu, who picked up a single Friday but is hitting .133 with zero extra-base hits since May 17. “When he’s on, he’s pretty good. He threw the ball well against us.”
The Yankees scored their lone run off an Anthony Rizzo groundout in the sixth. Friday was the offense’s second consecutive game with just one run, and Judge made sure Vasquez knew the loss wasn’t the young pitcher’s fault.
“I told him after the game it’s on us as an offense not getting you a couple runs when you’re going up against a lineup like that,” the captain said.
The Yankees are now on a three-game losing streak. They’ll look to snap that on Saturday when Luis Severino makes his second start of the year.
The righty made his 2023 debut on May 21 in Cincinnati after suffering a lat injury late in spring training. Severino pitched well against a lousy Reds team, allowing one earned run over 4.2 innings as he continued to build up at the major league level.
Michael Wacha, a Yankees killer, will start for San Diego. The veteran, who used to pitch for Tampa Bay and Boston, owns a 3.02 ERA across 50.2 career innings against the pinstripers.
Wacha has a 3.58 ERA after nine starts this season.
Sunday’s finale features the best pitching matchup of this series, as Gerrit Cole will face Yu Darvish. Cole has a 2.53 ERA through 11 starts, while Darvish has a 3.67 mark after nine starts.
()
