Everything seemed to be going right for the New York Yankees to start the season. The bullpen was nails in the series sweep over the Brewers, and the ball was flying out of the park as they clobbered home runs left and right.
The Yankees bullpen squandered an eighth inning lead
Things continued to look promising going into the eighth inning on Tuesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. With the Yankees up 4-2, they called on lefty Tim Hill with a few lefties due up.
However, things quickly went south for both Hill and the rest of the bullpen. Randal Grichuk led off the inning with a pinch-hit double, which was then followed by an RBI single from Geraldo Perdomo to cut the lead to 4-3. After getting Corbin Carroll to ground into a force out, manager Aaron Boone called on Mark Leiter Jr. to protect the lead with the heart of the Diamondbacks order coming up.
Leiter immediately struggled, walking Ketel Marte and Pavin Smith to load the bases for Josh Naylor with only one out. He was able to get Naylor to strike out swinging on a low splitter, and quickly found himself in another strikeout opportunity with Eugenio Suarez at the plate.
Unfortunately, a 2-2 splitter from Leiter hung over the heart of the plate and Suarez sent it out for a two-out go-ahead grand slam to put Arizona up 7-4. It was Suarez’s MLB-leading fifth home run of the season and a blast that stunned the Yankee Stadium crowd.
The Yankees bullpen collapsed at the wrong time
The Yankees would go on to lose by a score of 7-5, making it their first loss of the season despite tacking on four runs against Corbin Burnes including two home runs. Fernando Cruz was strong out of the bullpen, striking out four of the six batters he faced with his devastating splitter, but it became all for naught after Leiter and Hill struggled.
The Yankees are missing a few key bullpen pieces, and they were without Devin Williams on Tuesday after he was placed on the Paternity List. They added Adam Ottavino on a major league deal, but it is still unclear what his role in the bullpen will be.
Ottavino came on in relief for Leiter and struck out one and walked one in 0.2 innings thrown. The hope is that the bullpen struggles don’t become an alarming trend going forward and that it can be chalked up as one bad performance.
They will look to redeem themselves on Wednesday as they try to force a rubber match in the three-game set against the Diamondbacks.