Always chill Grisham delivers another clutch blow for Yankees

NEW YORK – Yankees manager Aaron Boone calls Trent Grisham “The Big Sleep” because nothing seems to bother the center fielder. Grisham is calm and confident whenever he is in the game, the skipper said.

The nickname should stick because Grisham was relaxed at the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning. His home run helped the Yankees edge the Astros, 5-4, at Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Asked if he liked the nickname, Grisham didn’t seem to care.

“I think the guys are trying to get it going,” Grisham said.

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With the score tied at 4 and left-hander Bryan King on the mound, Grisham worked the count to 3-1 and hit the ball into the second deck in right-center field to give New York the one-run lead. Grisham now has a career-high 21 home runs, and 16 have either tied the game (five) or given the Yankees the lead (11).

“I just believe I’m ready for [the moment]. I believe I’m built for it. I go into it with that mindset,” Grisham said. “[Being relaxed] plays a key role.”

Boone said Grisham has found a way to slow the game down whenever he is in the batter’s box.

“He is able to lock in during those moments. He has been in such a good place all year with the at-bat quality,” Boone said. “Even when he has hit a little speed bump, he is patient, knows what he is looking for. He has a good plan. You are seeing the power. It was a big-time at-bat right there.”

Instead of Devin Williams closing the game, it was David Bednar, who got five outs to earn the win three days after recording a five-out save. Deep down, Boone was hoping to give the right-hander just one inning, but right-hander Camilo Doval had a tough time getting outs in the eighth.

With New York leading, 4-2, Jose Altuve singled to left field to drive in pinch-runner Cam Smith. After Carlos Correa walked to load the bases, Bednar entered the game and walked Christian Walker, scoring Jesús Sánchez to tie the score at 4. But Bednar was able to get out of the jam by striking out Yainer Diaz and Taylor Trammell.

“I can’t throw Bednar any deeper into a fire. He gets ahead of Walker there and ends up losing him. He doesn’t even flinch and then [gets the strikeouts] and then has the one-two-three ninth,” Boone said.

Right-hander Luis Gil pitched well enough to win in his second start of the season, going 5 1/3 innings with two runs allowed and seven strikeouts.

At first it looked like it was going to be a long afternoon for the right-hander. The first hitter he faced, Jeremy Peña, hit a home run on a 2-1 pitch to give Houston the early lead.

But New York went ahead in the bottom of the inning against left-hander Framber Valdez. With the bases loaded and no outs, Paul Goldschmidt came home on a walk to Giancarlo Stanton. Ben Rice followed and hit a sacrifice fly to center fielder Chas McCormick that scored Aaron Judge for a one-run lead.

Although the Astros tied the game at 2 in the fourth, Gil looked like the pitcher who won the American League Rookie of the Year Award last year.

Gil left the game with a 4-2 lead, but he was handed a no-decision because of the blown save by Bednar.

“He found some rhythm. He flirted with a few three-ball counts but for the most part was able to win those,” Boone said about Gil. “I thought he had a presence with everything. His fastball, changeup and slider were all important pitches for him today. That was good to see and a big effort by him.”

Grisham has a feeling that the Yankees are getting close to being one of the hottest teams in the Major Leagues. Why does he feel that way?

“I believe everybody in this room believes in the guys next to him. This is a very talented team,” Grisham said. “If we get hot at the right time, the guys we have in this room and what we can do are pretty obvious.”