NEW YORK -- Sometimes the second out is even more important than the third.
Take the fifth inning of the Yankees' 4-1 loss to the Mets on Thursday night, for example. Starter Nathan Eovaldi, who up to that point had allowed one run, matched up against Alejandro De Aza with one out and Curtis Granderson standing on second base. De Aza dribbled a ground ball back to Eovaldi, who fielded it cleanly and turned to second to check Granderson.
Granderson had a slight lean toward third, and Eovaldi thought he could get him so he fired to second.