The good news, according to Aroldis Chapman, is that his balky left knee feels better than it has in a while.
That may well be the case, but it certainly didn’t help his performance on Saturday, when the closer nearly blew the Yankees’ 7-6 win over the Mets in The Bronx.
The closer didn’t retire any of the five batters he faced. He walked three, gave up an infield single and hit a batter before Aaron Boone pulled him with the bases loaded and no one out and a four-run lead down to two.
“It got away from him there,’’ Boone said. “I had tons of confidence. I’ve seen him be lights-out after he was off-kilter with one strike. But his pitch count was getting up, and I didn’t want to leave him out there.”
Fortunately for Chapman and the Yankees, Chasen Shreve entered and got a double play from Devin Mesoraco then a comebacker from Wilmer Flores to finish the game and pick up the second save of his career.
Despite his lack of control and diminished velocity, Chapman insisted he felt fine.
“I feel good, it was just a bad outing,’’ Chapman said through an interpreter. “That’s all.”
Chapman, though, has battled left knee tendinitis that caused him to sit out the All-Star Game last week.
He hadn’t pitched since July 14 and his fastball averaged just 97 mph on Saturday.
“That doesn’t concern me at all,’’ Chapman said. “I feel good. My arm feels good. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Still, of the 19 pitches Chapman threw, 16 were balls — including his last 11.
He started off by walking Kevin Plawecki then allowed the infield hit to Amed Rosario before walking Ty Kelly on four pitches to load the bases.
Jose Reyes then drew a walk to drive in a run and make it 7-4. He followed that up by hitting Brandon Nimmo to force in another run.
That’s when Boone had seen enough.
“He wants to be in that situation,’’ Austin Romine said of Chapman’s desire to finish games. “That’s why he’s here. Sometimes it gets away from you. Nobody’s perfect.”
It was uncharacteristic of Chapman.
“Sometimes he goes out there and walks a guy then he pulls it back in,’’ Romine said. “This one happened real quick. I’m trying to steal a strike for him and get it going in the right direction, but it wasn’t the case.”
Shreve got out of the jam by doing what Chapman could not.
“With the bases loaded, you can’t fall behind or walk a guy,’’ Shreve said.
He faced Mesoraco because Asdrubal Cabrera was tossed earlier in the game.
“It’s not too often we have to pick up our closer, but that was what was called for today,’’ Romine said. “[Shreve] put the whole team on his back.”