New York Yankees right-hander Jameson Taillon in his Thursday night start against the Los Angeles Angels – a 2-1 Yankees win – came within six outs of throwing the first MLB perfect game in almost a decade.
Taillon retired the first 21 batters he faced, but his bid for perfection came to an end when Jared Walsh hit a ground-ball double up the middle that Yankees shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa couldn't quite come up with:
In defense of Kiner-Falefa, it would've been a sparkling play had he made it. As well, he did make a sparkling play in the seventh to rob Shohei Ohtani of a hit and keep Taillon's perfect game intact:
After the Walsh double, Taillon retired Luis Rengifo on a pop-up and then got Brandon Marsh on a ground-out to the right side that advanced Walsh to third. A two-out, line-drive single by Kurt Suzuki gave the Angels a 1-0 lead. Taillon then ended his night with a Tyler Wade line-out. That gave him this final line on 100 total pitches:
The gem nudges Taillon's 2022 ERA down to 2.30 with no unearned runs allowed. In 58 2/3 innings, he boasts 44 strikeouts against just four walks. The 30-year-old Taillon has been a quality starting pitcher for some time, but in 2022 he's reached new heights thanks in part to the introduction of a cutter to his already deep arsenal. The change in approach also raises hopes that Taillon will be able to sustain this excellence moving forward.
Had Taillon been able to get those final six outs, then he would've twirled the first perfect game since Félix Hernández of the Mariners threw one against the Rays on Aug. 15, 2012. No Yankee has thrown a perfect game since David Cone in 1999. Overall, there have been just 23 recognized perfect games in major-league history and just 21 since 1900.
After Taillon exited, the Yankees clawed back in the bottom of the eighth and took a 2-1 lead on Anthony Rizzo's two-RBI pinch-hit single with the bases loaded and two outs. Clay Holmes made the lead stand up by pitching out of a bases-loaded jam of his own making in the ninth. The outcome of this, the second game of a Thursday doubleheader in the Bronx, pushed the Yankees to a season-best 36-15. The Angels, meantime, have now lost eight games in a row.
