Gavin Stone didn't have his best stuff for the Dodgers on Saturday night at Yankee Stadium, but that made his performance even more impressive.
Stone got the Dodgers through 5.2 innings and gave up eight hits and two runs while walking two and striking out six. He exited with the bases loaded in the sixth inning where Alex Vesia took over and got him out of the jam to preserve a 4-2 Los Angeles lead.
Rocky outings have been few and far between for Stone. He'd allowed more than one run only once in his previous seven outings.
It was clear early that Stone was in for a tough night when he gave up leadoff hits in each of the first two innings. There was an opportunity for Stone, who was making only his 16th-career start, to wilt under the Yankee Stadium lights. He battled instead.
Without his A-plus stuff Stone held the Yankees scoreless in the first despite giving up a couple of hits. The lone run he gave up in the second came on a groundball that was inches away from being a double-play. An errant sinker that stayed up to Aaron Judge got blasted for a solo homer in the third, but Stone retired the next seven batters before giving up a two-out double to Alex Verdugo in the fifth. He followed that with a walk to Judge, but got Giancarlo Stanton to end the inning.
Prior to Saturday night he'd given up no runs in his previous two starts. He struggled some Saturday, but pitched well enough to put the Dodgers in a position to win, which puts his outing against the Yankees as perhaps his best of the year.
