Like Gray, Jaime Garcia Pitches Well in Debut Despite Lack of Run Support and Defense

Jaime Garcia pitched well in his pinstripe debut. The only problem is the team around him didn’t pick him up.

It was Jaime Garcia’s turn to make his Yankees debut in Cleveland Friday night and, much like Sonny Gray the night before, pitched well enough to keep his team in the game despite suffering a 7-2 loss.

Garcia’s first inning in his new team’s road grey’s was a smooth one, as the veteran left-hander threw just 12 pitches and came back strong after walking the leadoff batter. He settled in to get RF Brandon Guyer to fly out and then got LF Michael Brantley to ground out to short for an inning-ending double play.

The second inning began with one out on one pitch, and looked like it would be another solid inning once

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Garcia struck out DH Edwin Encarnacion for the second out. It went downhill from there, however, as Garcia would walk two batters and give up an RBI triple to CF Austin Jackson. A pass ball in the following at-bat allowed Jackson to score from third easily, and by the time the inning ended, he had thrown 27 pitches thanks in part to poor defense as well as his lack of control.

Garcia’s third inning went about as bad as the second inning, with the former St. Louis Cardinal and Minnesota Twin surrendering an additional two runs. An errant throw past third base from Aaron Judge allowed Guyer to score off of Brantley’s single, which was followed by Brantley scoring on a sac fly from Encarnacion. Brantley’s run gave Garcia his third earned run of the game, and his 20-plus pitches left him well over 50 for the game. He was able to strike out Carlos Santana for his second of the evening to end the inning.

OAKLAND, CA – JULY 28: Jaime Garcia (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Garcia bounced back from those two shaky innings with an easy 11-pitch, one-two-three fourth inning. He struck out Jackson swinging to begin the inning, 3B Giovanny Ursula looking to end the inning and got C Roberto Perez to ground out in between.

Garcia’s fifth inning resembled his second and third, as he walked Brandon Guyer who, after stealing second base, scored on a single from Brantley to give the Indians their fifth run. Following a groundout to Chase Headley, Garcia exited the game after 4.2 innings with four earned runs on five hits and four strikeouts.

It was a start filled with us-and-downs for the 31-year-old, who struggled to locate all of his pitches at times yet showed that he can pitch well against a tough lineup without overpowering stuff. If he can throw the ball with more consistent accuracy, Garcia can be a valuable piece in this Yankee rotation.

Next: Who even is Jaime Garcia?

Like Sonny Gray, Jaime Garcia didn’t pitch his best game, and he certainly made his share of mistakes, but the score isn’t indicative of the type of performance he had. Without a few costly errors and a lack of run support, the outcomes of both ballgames may have been completely different.

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