DENVER — Just as it looked like he had turned a corner, Will Warren loaded the bases before recording an out Sunday afternoon.
That just set the stage for Aaron Boone gushing about his young right-hander’s start hours later.
Warren limited the damage to just two runs, with some help defensively from Anthony Volpe, and went on to retire 12 of the final 13 batters he faced before the rain ended his day early in what became a 5-4 Yankees win over the Rockies at Coors Field.
“I love this outing for Will Warren,” Boone said. “That’s adversity right out of the gate. … Just didn’t blink.”
Warren entered the day having allowed just three runs over 18 innings in his past three outings combined after a rough start to the season.
But his maturation was put to the test when he gave up back-to-back singles in the bottom of the first and then walked a batter to load the bases.
One run came in on a wild pitch and another scored on a groundout as the Rockies went up 2-1.
But Warren then struck out Brenton Doyle and got Ezequiel Tovar to ground out on a terrific play from Anthony Volpe to escape further trouble.
From there, Warren turned dominant, at one point retiring 11 straight and striking out five consecutive batters — three on his sweeper — into the fourth inning.
“I think it was good,” Warren said. “First inning I give up the two, but I think I stayed within our game plan and within myself. Kept making competitive pitches and tried to keep it minimal to let this offense score some runs.”
During the 1-hour, 46-minute rain delay in the top of the fifth, the Yankees had Warren simulate two innings underneath the stands to keep him moving and ready if play had resumed about 30 minutes earlier.
Instead, the delay lasted too long and Warren was done after four innings in which he proved his mettle.
“Maybe six months ago, he doesn’t react quite as well, or with as much poise and confidence,” Boone said. “He gets the groundout, a big strikeout of Doyle and all of a sudden, instead of a blowup inning, it’s manageable. He didn’t blink out there. Just watching his body language, watching his tempo, I just thought he handled it really well. It was good to see.”
Back in New York, Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit off a high-velocity pitching machine Saturday and Sunday and could head to Tampa with Giancarlo Stanton this week to take live at-bats and/or go out on a rehab assignment.
He is nearly four weeks removed from suffering a high-grade oblique strain.
“He’s doing pretty well,” Boone said. “His history suggests he’s done well with injuries and typically healed better than most guys. And just because of the asymptomatic nature pretty early on in the injury, despite the higher grade, I can’t say I’m surprised. We’re probably a few weeks in now. I think this is kind of what we maybe anticipated.”
Marcus Stroman (knee inflammation) came through Saturday’s bullpen session without issue and is scheduled to throw another on Tuesday. … Fernando Cruz (shoulder inflammation) played catch on flat ground for a third straight day.
Utilityman Cooper Hummel, who the Yankees did not add to their active roster after he triggered an opt-out clause at Triple-A, signed a major league deal with the Orioles on Sunday.
