PITTSBURGH — Aroldis Chapman touched 102 miles an hour with his fastball Tuesday night and pitched his first perfect inning since April 30. That was the lefty fireball thrower the Yankees were hoping to get back after he spent five weeks on the injured list with ankle tendinitis.

“I mean, that’s more in line with what we’ve been seeing in his work. And hopefully that’s a big step for him and kind of gets him moving,” Aaron Boone said after the Yankees’ 5-2 loss to the Pirates at PNC Park. “I thought it was really good, actually. And yeah, hopefully one of the good things to come out of tonight.”

Chapman needed 11 pitches to get through the bottom of the eighth inning, retiring Daniel Vogelbach and Michael Chavis on groundouts and getting a fly out from Oneil Cruz. He hit 102 miles an hour.

In his first appearance back from the IL, Chapman looked terrible. He walked the three batters he faced and then with his head down walked off the mound and met Boone on the grass before continuing on to the dugout. Boone said they were concerned about his confidence.

Chapman’s struggled most of this season.

Chapman was in a great spot at the start of 2021, but since then he has struggled. In 17 appearances this season, before suffering an Achilles/ankle injury, the native Cuban had the highest ERA (3.86) and the lowest strikeout rate (22.7%) of his career. His fastball velocity, which has been declining since 2017, is averaging 97.1 miles per hour. The average velocity on all his other pitches is down as well.

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