The Yankees bullpen absolutely blew up on Tuesday night, coughing up a whopping six runs in a wild 9-7 loss to the Houston Astros. That’s a brutal gut punch for New York, especially when you look at how tight things are getting in the AL East. They were outhit, too, with Houston racking up 14 hits to New York’s 10. The Rays lost, the Red Sox won, and suddenly the Yankees are still 3.5 games behind Tampa, with Boston just 1.5 games back of New York. Talk about a mess.
The Bullpen Implosion and Costly Errors
Man, that bullpen was a disaster. Fernando Cruz gave up a two-run shot to Jeremy Pena in the sixth, knotting things up at 5-5. Then, with the lead in the eighth, Brent Headrick came in and immediately surrendered a solo homer to Yainer Diaz. Just a few batters later, Yordan Alvarez smashed a go-ahead triple off Headrick, putting the Astros up. Isaac Paredes followed that up with a single, making it 8-6. And just for good measure, Bradley Hanner allowed an insurance run in the ninth. Even Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s RBI single in the eighth couldn’t save them. To make matters worse, Lombard made a throwing error in the first inning, his fourth error in his last four games. That’s just not going to cut it.
Momentary Bright Spots and Pitching Struggles
Before the bullpen implosion, there were some flashes of life from the offense. Cody Bellinger, in just his second game back off the IL, launched a three-run shot in the third inning to put New York up 3-2. That was his first homer since June 17, ending a 32-game drought! He finished 1-for-5. Luis Garcia Jr. kept the home run party going with a two-run blast in the fifth, giving the Yankees the lead again, and later came through in the seventh with an RBI double in a tie game. Garcia was on fire, finishing 4-for-4 with two RBI, just a triple shy of the cycle.
On the mound, Will Warren had a tough night. He gave up a solo shot to Yainer Diaz in the second and an RBI single to Daulton Varsho in the third, which was set up by an Austin Wells passed ball. Warren couldn’t hold the lead after Varsho singled in another run. He battled for 97 pitches, tossing 56 strikes, but ultimately allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits and two walks, striking out four.
Yainer Diaz was named the Game MVP for Houston, driving in three runs in the win, and you can see why.
The Yankees and Astros continue this series on Wednesday evening, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. Houston is sending Pete Lambert (6-8, 4.38 ERA) to the mound, while the Yankees are expected to start Elmer Rodriguez. This bullpen needs to figure it out, and fast, if they want to stay in this division race.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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