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New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone lauded the team's new closer, Devin Williams, for striking out his former teammates, Christian Yelich and Jackson Chourio, to earn a 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Opening Day. Williams had to navigate the Yankees out of a tough jam as he loaded the bases and allowed a run before punching out Chourio and Yelich to pick up the save.
Aaron Boone discussed the performance of Devin Williams on his Yankees debut in the post-game press conference. Boone credited Williams for maintaining his composure inside a packed Yankee Stadium against his old teammates.
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"Love that he didn't break. Ends up getting backed into a corner there, having Chourio and Yelich barreling down at you with now the game in the balance. Not a lot of margin for error there," Boone said. "He just kept making pitches, and I'm sure, too, at the end he was tired. I was very uncomfortable with where he was from a pitch-count standpoint."
"Once he got Chourio after a really long battle and made a really good pitch on him to finish him off, I was going to give one more batter with Yelich there," Boone added. "He just kept making pitches, so it's not always easy, but glad just how he didn't break."
Entering the game in the top of the ninth inning, Devin Williams gave up a single to Joey Ortiz and a double to Issac Collins before walking Jake Bauers to load up the bases. Brice Turang scored a run off a sac fly before he struck out Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich to record his first save of the new season.
Devin Williams reflects on his Yankees debut
Devin Williams also spoke to the media after making his debut for the New York Yankees on Thursday. He shed light on his experience of going up against his former team in the very first game after being traded by the Milwaukee Brewers.
"It's the same game in my mind," Williams said "Obviously, there’s a little bit of different expectations, more eyes on you here. But none of that’s going through my mind when I’m on the mound."
"Didn’t think my command was the best today," he added. "It wasn’t the easiest one. They kind of made me work."
The New York Yankees have an off-day on Friday before they take on the Milwaukee Brewers for the remainder of this series. They will host the Arizona Diamondbacks next for a three-game series starting on April 1 before embarking on their first road trip of the regular season.
