Paxton's strong Yankees debut lacking support

NEW YORK -- The negotiations that pried James Paxton from the Pacific Northwest took the better part of a month, after which the Yankees celebrated the acquisition of an electric left-hander whom they believe will develop into a durable mainstay of their starting rotation.

The outcome was not what Paxton might have envisioned for his debut, but his first five innings wearing pinstripes provided plenty to be encouraged about. The 30-year-old scattered four hits through 5 2/3 innings, though run support was tough to come by in New York's 5-3 loss to the Orioles on Saturday.

"I felt it going out there the first inning; I was pretty excited, nervous, all that stuff," Paxton said. "I felt good about it and let it energize me. I felt like I handled it pretty well."

The eighth Canadian-born pitcher to appear with the Yankees, "The Big Maple" faced one batter over the minimum while holding Baltimore scoreless through the first five frames. To that point, the Yanks had managed only one run of their own, coming on DJ LeMahieu's fourth-inning RBI single.

Paxton did not permit a hit until Dwight Smith Jr. singled to lead off the fourth, and Smith was promptly erased as third baseman LeMahieu started an around-the-horn double play. Aaron Judge said that Paxton appeared just as he had while wearing a Mariners uniform in recent seasons.

"Pax threw a hell of a game," Judge said. "He went out and dominated, and we weren't able to come up in a big situation to get those runs he needed. We got that one, but against any Major League team, one is not enough. Missed opportunities and errors, we've got to clean that up."

Most prominently, the Yankees were unable to inflict damage after Nate Karns issued three first-inning walks, as Miguel Andujar grounded into an inning-ending double play. Brett Gardner left two men on in the fourth, part of a hitless afternoon, and Baltimore finally struck against Paxton in the sixth.

Jesus Sucre led off by notching what would be the first of his three hits, and Richie Martin flared a bloop over first baseman Luke Voit's head for his first big league hit.

After a lineout, Smith knocked home the tying run with a single to right field, and a second run scored on a double steal, with catcher Gary Sanchez bouncing his throw past second baseman Gleyber Torres for one of three New York errors.

"They just found holes," Paxton said. "They got some good breaks right there. It was unfortunate, but I felt good about how I threw the ball today. I think they knew I was throwing the ball pretty well and they knew they had to take their chances when they had them."

Paxton scattered four hits, walking one and striking out five. His 82nd and final pitch generated a fielder's choice that cut down Smith at home plate, at which point manager Aaron Boone pointed to summon right-hander Adam Ottavino from the bullpen.

"I thought he was really good," Boone said. "We probably could've gotten him through that sixth -- I thought he was maybe tiring a little bit -- but I thought he was strong. I thought he was efficient. I thought his command overall was good. He did all the things he wanted to do."

Except depart in line for a victory, though the Yankees anticipate those will come with time. As it was, Paxton left the diamond to applause, tipping his cap in acknowledgement.

"I was expecting to keep on going, but I get it with our bullpen," Paxton said. "It's early in the season. Hopefully later into the season as things get going here I'll be allowed to get closer to 100 pitches and keep on grinding."