Dellin Betances will kill us all

Yesterday, I watched the eighth inning from behind the couch. Apparently, manager Aaron Boone had decided that Dellin Betances should resume set-up duties, as if the old NO-RUNS DMC protocol still exists and the last few months never happened.

Dellin walked the first batter on five pitches. Five. Often, he only needs four. You could argue that this was a hopeful sign - needing five pitches to walk the lead-off man - but it brought up Mike Trout with the tying run on base, which seemed at the time a questionable strategy. 

The beauty of having Trout at bat was that it kept the base-runner from easily stealing second. That's a hallmark of Betances sightings: Once on first, every runner quickly takes second. Stephen Hawkings could steal second. Rosie O'Donnell could steal second. George H.W. Bush... you get the idea. But because everybody on the planet figured Trout would tie the game with a home run - or get walked, moving the runner to second - the base-runner didn't bother to steal.

Trout hit a chopper to Didi, who secured the force. 

The next guy, on a 2-1, mashed a bullet right at Didi, who turned the DP. Betances walked off grinning, and the Yankees today will pretend that he is back and in command of the eighth. But I'm sorry: I don't buy it.

I don't know what to do with Betances, I really don't. But his appearance in anything less than a blowout is flat-out terrifying, and unless he never walks another batter, his inability to hold base-runners on first is grounds for a divorce. We can't go on like this. Everybody in baseball knows it. The guy cannot throw to first base. It doesn't matter how nasty his stuff is to home. He walks a batter, and the runner quickly steals second. If the runner is particularly fast, he then steals third. Pitch-outs don't work. Pick-off attempts go into right field. Are we seriously going into a full-bore pennant race - tough games against Boston - with an eighth inning reliever who is always on the verge of exploding into a cloud of dust? I don't think so. 

Again, I don't know what to do. The box score says Betances did his job yesterday. But if you were watching, you know how close we came to utter disaster. My heart can't take this. I wish there was an answer. But folks, this isn't working.