Apparently, the Yankee plan is to let Aroldis Chapman close until he starts blowing games; last night, he came close...

You better sit down, kids. 

I'll tell you why.
You might not understand, kids.
But give it a try.
Now how should I put this.
I've got something to say.
If El Chapo is closing,
The game's going away...

Pssst. In the kitchen. It's Cher. She wants to talk... It's about Aroldis.

Last night - in case you switched to the heartstring-tugging piquancy of NBC's This Is Us - El Chapo pitched the ninth. He replaced Michael King, who'd thrown three perfect innings, fanning six. I don't fault Aaron Boone for the move. He didn't want to overuse King, and this was a classic save situation - a two-run lead - the kind of finger food that Chapman is supposed to devour without chewing.

Everything looks copacetic. Chapman fans the first Oriole on four pitches. The guy appears overmatched. Next batter grounds sharply to third, a lunging stop by DJ LeMahieu that later, in hindsight, will take on more significance. 

Two outs. Mop up time. Ho-hum, right? Well, suddenly, Chapman fires a fastball directly to the backstop. Higashioka barely touches it. It's as if a rubber band just snapped. On a 2-2 count, he gives up a single to left. Tying run at the plate. Hmm. Fortunately, the next batter is Robinson Chirinos - hitting .141 - who spent much of last year as a Scranton Railrider. First pitch, he lashes a line drive single up the middle, nearly takes off Chapman's glove.  

Tying runs on base. Hmmm. Next batter hits a fly to LF that Joey Gallo approaches like a sanitation worker creeping up on a talking turd. The two-time Gold Glover plays it on a hop, holding up at the last moment. WTF? With the game on the line, Gallo holds back. It's lucky the O's had a catcher on first base. Only one run scores. 

Tying run at third. Winning run at second. The O's best player, Cedric Mullens, at the plate. Clay Holmes warming in the pen. The Yankees strategize at the mound, a moment sponsored by Cellino & Barnes, or somebody. Mullins swings at the first pitch, a towering foul pop to third, LeMahieu catching it and celebrating like Charlie Hayes. Chapman looks like a rescued hiker who just spent the night atop Everest. The Yankiverse sighs with relief.

Remember all those games our bullpen lost last year, and the year before, and the year before that, with out-of-body, traumatizing moments of pain? Well, we just came within an inch of our first Chapo meltdown abomination of 2022.

I get it that there is "tradition" in Chapman as closer. Last night, he tallied his 9th save of 2022. He is tied for fifth in MLB. Three of the closers ahead of him - Jordan Romano (whom we recently battered), Liam Hendricks (whom we recently nearly battered) and Daniel Bard (he's still around?) - have higher ERAs than Aroldis (at 2.65). Aside from Milwaukee's Josh Hader - who hasn't given up a run in 14 save opportunities, no pitcher is a sure thing - though King (1.40) and Holmes (0.49) - are damn close. 

Still, here's the moral of last night:

We can never feel security with Chapman closing. 

It doesn't matter if there are two outs, or how dominant he looks after the first batters.  

At any moment, Chapman can start flinging balls above the tree-line, and then leaving sliders over the plate - and suddenly, the game is out the window. 

Changing closers is never easy. But at some point, this will bite us. 

The O's last night were a warning. Soon, the Yankees must deal with a dark reality. Our closer is the weakest part of our staff.