Aaron Boone has no regrets.
The Yankees manager explained his thinking behind the decision to pitch to two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani during a critical seventh-inning at-bat on Monday.
The manager said he didn’t even consider walking Ohtani in the bottom of the seventh as the Yankees tried to protect a 3-1 lead that the Angels star erased with a two-run homer.
“No, no,” Boone responded when asked if walking Ohtani before the game-tying blast was an option.
“Maybe if he had gotten to second base and fallen behind in the count or something, but not there.”
Eduardo Escobar was on first base and Mike King was ahead in the count 1-2 before Ohtani ripped a shot over the fence in left-center.
“When we have a two-run lead there [in the seventh] — the guy hitting behind him [Mickey Moniak] is hitting .330, too,” Boone said.
“So I wasn’t gonna put another runner out at second and the tying run on and the go-ahead run at the plate with a two-run lead. Now had [Escobar] gotten to second and we were behind in the count or something, different story. But no, not in that [spot].”
Ohtani’s homer was his MLB-leading 35th of the season — and he punctuated it with an out-of-character bat flip.
“It was the most emotion I’ve seen on the field I’ve seen from him,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said, according to MLB.
“It was awesome. Just an incredible deal there. When your superstar steps up in moments like that and something like that happens, it’s not only what it does for the whole place but what it does for the dugout.”
According to MLB, over the last 28 games Ohtani has recorded as many homers in the seventh inning or later as any other major player has hit total since June 12.
The Yankees ultimately fell 4-3 in the tenth inning, which followed Sunday’s collapse against the Rockies.
Boone’s squad has dropped seven of its last nine contests and sit last in the AL East with a 50-45 record.
The trade market’s biggest name has logged homers in three consecutive games and is slashing .306/.391/.677 this season.
The Yankees had intentionally walked Ohtani in the fifth inning in his previous at-bat.
That came with runners on first and third and two outs.
Yankees starter Luis Severino got Moniak to line out to right to end the threat and keep the game scoreless.
“I wish it wasn’t at my expense, but he’s an incredible hitter,” King said.
“We knew, as a team, that we didn’t want him to be the one to beat us. Unfortunately, I got greedy in a two-strike count and tried to make a better pitch than I needed to.”
