New York Yankees pitcher Andrew Miller reacts after the Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-3, in a baseball game Wednesday, April 8, 2015, at Yankee Stadium in New York.Bill Kostroun/The Associated Press
There were concerns about the state of the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen coming out of spring training, the fact that the two unproven 20-year-olds were part of its makeup.
On a nasty Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, the youngsters were okay.
The problem was with the older relief hands in Aaron Loup and Brett Cecil who wound up bearing most of the blame in what amounted to a 4-3 comeback victory by the New York Yankees.
"We just imploded," was the apt summation from Toronto manager John Gibbons on what transpired. "It started with a little wind blown hit there and then we hit a couple guys. We don't normally do that and it just got away."
It was just the second game of the Major League Baseball season but this outcome was tough to swallow for the Blue Jays, who appeared to have things well in hand heading into the eighth inning with a 3-1 lead.
On a cold and rainy night in the Bronx, where the game time temperature was a chilly 6 Celsius, the Blue Jays got a decent start off the mound from R.A Dickey.
The knuckleballer was able to fight through horrid conditions and departed the game with one out in the seventh inning with his team leading 3-1 after surrendering a single to Chase Headley.
Gibbons then went to his bullpen, summoning Miguel Castro into the game.
Castro, along with Roberto Osuna, are both just 20 and both surprising roster additions to the bullpen after solid showings in spring training.
Castro did his job, getting Alex Rodriguez to pop up before striking out Stephen Drew to end the inning.
The Blue Jays were not so fortunate in the eighth that started with Loup, in his fourth season with the Blue Jays, surrendering a wind blown lead off double that just landed fair down the right field line to pinch hitter Chris Young.
"It's just one of those things, you make a good pitch and it just dropped in the middle of no-man's land out there," Loup said. "On another day it might be a catch and an inning goes a different way."
Loup then allowed a single to Jacoby Ellsbury and then hit Brett Gardner with a pitch to load the bases.
Exit Loup and enter Brett Cecil, the new Toronto closer who then served up a wild pitch that scored a run and trimmed the Blue Jays lead to a precarious 3-2.
After striking out Carlos Beltran and with first base open, the Blue Jays intentionally walked Mark Teixeira to set up a potential inning-ending double play.
Cecil then hit Brian McCann with a pitch that brings home the tying run.
The madness continued when a drive up the middle off the bat of Headley struck Cecil on the wrist and the ball caromed into left field for a hit that scored what would be the winning run by Gardner.
Gibbons said if Cecil let the ball go through there was a good chance that it was a tailor-made double-play ball to shortstop Jose Reyes, who was gliding over toward second base on the play.
"It was a little deceiving," Cecil said of Headley's hit. "I thought it was coming in a little bit slower than it was."
It was then left to Osuna, making his MLB debut, to stop the leaking, striking out Rodriguez and then inducing a fly ball out by Drew to get Toronto out of the inning.
"It was tough conditions on both sides, it's not easy playing in," Gibbons said. "That's when you've got to be mentally tough and I thought we were.
"We just coughed it up."