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A broken nail on the Yankees’ close-up middle finger from Aroldis Chapman’s hand turned into a major crisis Sunday at Yankee Stadium with a game and series at stake. It was painful to throw fast balls, so he went with a bunch of sliders.
To make matters worse, his speed was low and his command was off.
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It all led to the Oakland Athletics being awarded late in the ninth inning when a chance to save Chapman began with batsman Jade Lowry going five pitches and taking Tony Kemp four straight balls.
With running and going on base and no one out in one game, Yankees manager Aaron Boone and coach went up the hill to check on Chapman.
“He totally felt like he wanted to stay, so I just told him to throw the weight of the three ball and let’s get on with it,” Boone said.
Boone was certainly joking, but then Chapman made two runs as he was told, as Sean Murphy gave a 1–0 fastball to third baseman Joe Orchila to start a three-way game that resulted in a 2-1 victory for the Yankees.
“It’s unbelievable,” Chapman said. “When you think about it, you can tell it to someone and they probably won’t believe it. They’ll need to see it. My nails have been giving me trouble. You’re trying your best to fight on the hill and get the job done, but thank God the globe is there near the base and Urshela is there.” We are able to implement this triple play.”
Orcilla sent out the routine hitter, climbed onto third base, then threw second base officer DJ LeMahieu, who threw first base leader Chris Gittens to triple Murphy and end the Yankees’ thrilling win.
“That play over there saved the game and got me out of this predicament,” Chapman said.
Chapman has dealt with broken nails from time to time in his career. This happened about a week ago and it didn’t affect him on Saturday when he made the ninth inning to seal a 7-5 win over Oakland, a match that ended with Matt Chapman scoring at 103mph.
A day later, the nail problem moved in and Chapman was throwing fast balls at 98 mph that were off the board and painful.
“When you experience something like that, personally, shooting fast balls is the pitch that affects it the most and the other pitches are good,” Chapman said. “The nail might be a bit weak which is why it broke with all the pressure of the throw.”
Whatever the reason, Chapman had to deal with his broken nails as well as driving issues with his slider. Nine of his first 10 pitches were balls.
With Kemp hit, Boone was worried enough that two Yankees underdogs woke up on the to-do list, right Luis Sesa and Andy Peralta left. But after the second round, Boone chose not to make a pitch change once Chapman insisted he stay in the game.
“I didn’t feel like he was uncompetitive or ‘we should get him out of here,'” Boone said.
Chapman was determined to find a way to get himself out of the big hole he had dug.
“I think the most important thing is[having]the focus and determination to get the job done in a situation like this,” Chapman said. “You definitely need durability. You find yourself in a place where it’s hard to believe you’re going to get the job done, and then all of a sudden it’s game over and you keep the game.
“As a closer, you have to understand that these days are really good and there are some days that are not so good. Today was somewhere in the middle where you can focus and understand what is going on, and eventually find a way to get the job done.”
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