Chase Headley has been rather beleaguered this season. The season started in an upswing, but quickly cratered, leading fans to revolt against him. He's still around, though, and had another one of his upswings on Saturday night. When the new york yankees needed him most in their game against the Cleveland Indians, he came through, sending the Bronx Bombers into the night with a smile on their faces.
Headley's heroic moment
The Yankees and Indians were engaged in a pitching duel for most of the evening, with the score being tied 1-1 heading into the eighth inning.
Zach McAllister struck out the first batter he faced, leading to Headley entering the batter's box. The first baseman had been having another ugly night in his previous three at-bats, striking out twice and failing to get on base. This time, however, things would turn out much better for Headley.
The home run put the Yankees up 2-1, assuring they would need just six outs from their solid bullpen to end the night in victory, which is exactly what occurred. As ESPN's Katie Strang noted on Twitter, Headley became the first Yankees first baseman to hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning or beyond against the Indians since August 4, 2005 - just a day off from an anniversary. Jason Giambi did the feat on that day, but Saturday was all about Headley's heroics.
Yankees pull out the win
After Headley did his thing, the Yankees did theirs. Dellin Betances came on in the bottom of the eighth inning and induced a line out and two strikeouts, both with the batters staring in disbelief, rather than swinging. Then, Aroldis Chapman came out, making his first appearance in Cleveland since his ill-fated date against the Indians during Game 7 of last year's World Series.
He allowed a single off the bat, but then forced out the next three batters to end the game.
Chapman was aided by some spectacular defense, courtesy Brett Garner, and Ronald Torreyes. Without them, Chapman may have blown another opportunity at Progressive Field. But thanks to Headley and the defense, that simply wasn't the case.
David Robertson earned the win, which was the first for the Yankees during this four-game series. The teams close out the series on Sunday afternoon. Luis Severino will take the mound for New York, while Carlos Carrasco will try to end the series on a high note for the Indians, who are hanging on to their lead in the AL Central by a short thread.
