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The last time Devin Williams faced Pete Alonso, the Mets slugger slammed a go-ahead, series-altering homer in the NL wild-card series.
On Friday, Williams was no longer a Brewer — or a closer — and not nearly as much was on the line, even with the spotlight of the Subway Series in The Bronx.
This time, Williams continued his comeback after being yanked from the closer’s role following his disastrous start with the Yankees, pitching a perfect eighth inning in a 6-2 win over the Mets at Yankee Stadium.
He got Alonso looking on an 0-2, 94-mph four-seamer on the outside corner for the first out of the eighth.
Then Williams struck out Mark Vientos and Brandon Nimmo — both swinging — to complete an impressive inning.
He finished Vientos with a nasty changeup.
It was the first time in Williams’ 18 appearances as a Yankee in which he’s struck out the side in order and was part of Williams’ attempt at redemption since arriving in a trade from Milwaukee in exchange for Nestor Cortes and infielder Caleb Durbin.
“He was great,” Aaron Boone said of Williams. “His fastball was good and there were a couple changeups that just disappeared. In our dugout, the depth on those pitches were really good. That’s who he is right there and we’re seeing it more and more.”
To Boone’s point, outside of an ugly performance against the Padres on May 5, when Williams allowed three runs, the right-hander has been significantly better in a setup role.
He’s been unscored upon in seven of those eight appearances — including Friday’s.
Against the Mets, he was brought in with the Yankees up by five runs, so the pressure was relatively low.
But certainly, facing Alonso could have been asking for trouble, since it was the Mets first baseman who first sent Williams down this path.
After some of the most dominant regular seasons in history, Williams came into Game 3 of the wild-card series in Milwaukee, looking to close out the series for the Brewers.
Instead, Alonso hit one of the most memorable homers in Mets history.
Williams’ arrival to the Yankees got off to a mostly bumpy start, as he was replaced as closer by Luke Weaver after just 10 outings.
Thanks to Weaver’s dominance in the role both late last year — when he took over for Clay Holmes — and again this season, there’s no rush to put Williams back in the ninth inning, but he’s at least showing that he can again be trusted in higher-leverage situations.
And his famous Airbender pitch, which hadn’t been as effective as a Yankee, is again looking like it’s worthy of the nickname.
