BALTIMORE — JP Sears picked up the first win of his career on Saturday night before getting optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The lefty got perhaps the biggest out of the game in Saturday’s 5-2 win over the Orioles at Camden Yards, getting Ramon Urias to fly out to right to end the fifth inning — after he had walked Cedric Mullins to load the bases after he entered the game.
“He is a strike thrower,” Aaron Boone said of Sears. “He’s not afraid out there, even in that situation. Even though he lost Mullins, which wasn’t ideal, I knew he’d be fine mentally and emotionally to bounce back. Obviously, he got a big out.”
But with the Yankees relying so heavily on their bullpen through the first nine games of the season, they likely will need to add an arm for Sunday’s series finale against Baltimore.
Sears ended up pitching a scoreless inning before Michael King escaped a bases-loaded jam, as well, when he struck out Jorge Mateo in the sixth.
The bullpen threw 5 ¹/₃ scoreless innings in relief of Jameson Taillon, who came back out to pitch the fifth after a 49-minute rain delay.
“I feel comfortable handing the ball off to any of the 11 guys down there,’’ Taillon said, noting the bullpen’s depth.
Aroldis Chapman’s first pitch Friday night was an un-Chapman-like 93 mph, but pitching coach Matt Blake noted the Yankees closer later got his velocity up to 99 mph as the 11th inning progressed.
Blake attributed the reduced velocity in part to the fact Chapman entered the game against the Orioles with the bases loaded, leaving no margin for error.
He was also coming off a disastrous outing in The Bronx against the Blue Jays, when Chapman walked all three batters he faced before being removed in the ninth inning and replaced by Michael King, who finished the game and earned his first career save.
Unlike on Thursday, Chapman’s fastball command was good on Friday, but he still went with his slider for both the 2-2 and 3-2 pitches to Urias. They missed — barely — and the Yankees lost.
Boone, though, said he was encouraged by the outing.
“I thought his stuff was good,” Boone said before Saturday’s game against Baltimore at Camden Yards. “Even the fastball. It was in the 94-98 [mph] range. I thought his stuff was pretty crisp and he threw the ball well.”
Boone said “I don’t think it’s going to be an issue,” when asked about the possibility that two players might not be able to play in Toronto due to not being vaccinated, which The Post reported on Friday.
The manager didn’t elaborate, adding only: “I don’t have anything to say on that.”
But there has been concern about fulfilling Canada’s requirement that people must be vaccinated at least 14 days before entry into the country in order to play games there.
The rules already have impacted Oakland, as three A’s players — pitchers AJ Puk and Kirby Snead and catcher Austin Allen — were placed on the restricted list before the series began on Friday, leaving them ineligible to appear in the series.
Marwin Gonzalez made two good defensive plays to his right when he took over at shortstop in Friday’s loss.
“The big thing was seeing him move around, which we also saw at shortstop in spring,’’ Boone said of the utility player, who could be used as a backup shortstop instead of Gleyber Torres when Isiah Kiner-Falefa is unavailable.
On Friday, Kiner-Falefa was out of the game after being pinch-hit for by Aaron Judge and Boone sounded willing to use Gonzalez there again in a similar situation.
“He made two really good plays, backhand, fairly easily,’’ Boone said. “I’m encouraged with where I think he’s at.”
Aaron Hicks batted leadoff on Saturday night. Boone said he has liked what he’s seen from the outfielder after coming back from last year’s wrist surgery. He went 2-for-3 with a walk and a scored run.
“He’s been pretty good so far,’’ Boone said. “He’s getting his hits and getting on base.”
And of Joey Gallo, Boone said, “He’s been a little bit unlucky. The quality of contact has been good. He’s not all the way there yet.”
Gallo went 0-for-4 with a walk.