Relievers take spotlight in Game 6 as aces readied for decider

NEW YORK—Gerrit Cole may get a chance to punch the Houston Astros’ ticket to the World Series.

Only if Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton and the rest of the New York Yankees’ acclaimed relief corps force him to try.

After staving off elimination with a 4-1 victory on Friday night in the Bronx, the Yankees plan to unleash their fearsome relievers in Houston on Saturday during Game 6 of this AL Championship Series. The Astros lead the best-of-seven set 3-2 and will also lean on their bullpen, saving Cole to pitch a potential Game 7 on full rest.

Hanging in the balance: a World Series date with the NL champion Washington Nationals.

“We obviously feel good about the bullpen days,” Britton said. “We’ve had a lot of success doing it.”

Yankees opener extraordinaire Chad Green is likely to get the ball first, although manager Aaron Boone said he had not decided for sure. The rest of New York’s core relief quintet—Chapman, Britton, Adam Ottavino and Tommy Kahnle—will surely follow. Boone said Luis Severino would start a potential Game 7.

Boone has been occasionally symphonic orchestrating matchups for those pitchers, as in Game 2 of this series. After starter James Paxton stumbled through 2 1/3 innings, the bullpen held Houston to two hits and one run over the next seven innings. Starter-turned-reliever JA Happ finally cracked in the 11th inning, allowing a game-ending homer to Carlos Correa.

New York’s relievers own a 2.27 ERA this postseason, helped by three scoreless innings to close out Game 5. Britton retired five straight on 18 pitches, and Chapman threw nine pitches in a perfect ninth.

“We’ll just do our best to piece it together,” Boone said.

Boone has managed workloads for all those relievers carefully this season. None has pitched three consecutive days in 2019. —AP