New York Yankees right-hander Dellin Betances made his season debut on Sunday and struck out both batters he faced.
Betances had been sidelined with shoulder and lat issues, and the Yankees activated him prior to the game against the Toronto Blue Jays. He threw eight pitches — seven were strikes — in the fourth inning.
The four-time All-Star said prior to the game that he is working toward being fully ready for the postseason.
“I got a couple weeks to get my arm going,” Betances told reporters. “The more I pitch, the better I will be. That’s pretty much it.”
Betances made three minor league rehab appearances prior to the being activated.
“Hopefully these couple final weeks of the season, he’ll get some significant outings and continue to get built up and be a big part of what we do moving forward in the month of October,” New York manager Aaron Boone said of Betances.
Betances, 31, is 21-22 with a 2.36 ERA over 357 career appearances (one start) with the Yankees. He was 4-6 with 2.70 ERA in 66 relief appearances for New York last season.
Left-hander Jordan Montgomery also was activated to make his season debut on Sunday. Montgomery allowed three runs and four hits over two innings in his return from Tommy John surgery that sidelined him more than 16 months.
The 26-year-old Montgomery pitched in just six games left season prior to the injury after going 9-7 with a 3.88 ERA in 29 starts as a rookie in 2017
New York also designated Ryan Dull for assignment and placed fellow right-hander Jonathan Holder (shoulder) on the 60-day injured list.
Dull, 29, has a 13.50 ERA in 10 major league games for the Oakland Athletics (seven) and Yankees (three) this season. The 26-year-old Holder is 5-2 with a 6.31 ERA in 34 appearances (one start) for New York this season.
