Making his Yankees debut and his first relief appearance since 2007, Derek Lowe notched his first save in 11 years by throwing four scoreless innings in the Bombers’ 8-2 win over the Rangers on Monday.
It was Lowe’s 86th career save. The first 85 all came with the Red Sox from 1998-2001. He moved into the rotation on a permanent basis in 2002 and had made just one relief appearance in the 11 years since.
The Yankees signed Lowe to pitch in middle relief, but he looked so good tonight that they allowed him to just keep going and finish the game. He allowed two hits, walked none and struck out four in his four frames. 33 of his 44 pitches went for strikes.
It’ll be interesting to see what the Yankees do if Lowe continues to succeed as a long man. He’s still stretched out to start, and though the Yankees wouldn’t necessarily need him in that role if CC Sabathia returns later this month as hoped, he does give them options.
