Betances says he would be honored by All-Star nod

NEW YORK – Strange sight Monday night.

Dellin Betances took down the first two Rays in the eighth at Yankee Stadium, but then walked the next two. Joe Girardi pulled him, but the go-ahead run eventually scored. The Yankees went on to fall 4-3 in 12.

The 6-foot-8 rookie righty has been so incredibly good out of the bullpen that it's a shock when he hits a bump on the mound. Of course, he had a bit of an excuse, pitching for the third time in four games. The Yankees lost Tuesday night's rematch 2-1, but Betances got to rest.

His numbers are rather eye-catching: 35 appearances, 4-0 record, 1.50 ERA, 76 strikeouts and 16 walks in 48 innings. Good luck trying to hit that upper-90s fastball and knee-buckling breaking ball. Opposing batting average: .130.

This is All-Star-worthy stuff.

Girardi has been lobbying ahead of Sunday's All-Star announcements.

"If you want a big strikeout and you want a guy to come in in the middle of an inning and get people out, he's pretty good at it," Girardi said. "He's done a tremendous job. He's a reliever that can obviously give you multiple innings."

Betances would love to be at Target Field July 15, hanging with the elite at age 26.

"You're talking about guys that you grew up watching, unbelievable players that attend that game," Betances said. "I haven't really thought too much about it, but I'd be honored if I get selected to participate in that kind of game."

His growing-up days first came in Washington Heights and then the Lower East Side after he turned 10. He used to attend games at the old Yankee Stadium. And then the boyhood Yankees fan became a Yankees prospect in 2006, an eighth-round starting pitcher out of Brooklyn's Grand Street Campus High.

There was Tommy John surgery in August of 2009. But he recovered to make his big-league debut against Tampa Bay at the new Stadium on Sept. 22, 2011. He walked four, hit one and was charged with two runs in two-thirds of an inning.

"It wasn't a good day, but I took it in perspective," Betances said. "Not a lot of guys get to be here. It was definitely a special day."

After a bad year with bad command in the minors in 2012, he found his way in 2013 after being moved to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre bullpen.

"I think it's just a matter of being out there more," said Betances, who appeared in six Yankees games last year. "Getting to pitch every other day, I think that's helped me be more consistent in my delivery."

This year has been a giant step forward for a giant-sized pitcher.

"More than anything, it's just having the confidence and believing in yourself that you belong here and you can do the job," Betances said.

He sure made an impression on the Red Sox's Big Papi.

"That kid's nasty, man," David Ortiz told reporters Sunday night when he grounded out against Betances. "He's got good stuff. And I'm old."

Ortiz basically said Betances was abusing the older guys in the league.

"It means a lot when a guy like that says that," Betances said. "I'm just trying to go out there and do my job to the best ability that I can."

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