Bullpen Alarming As New York Yankees Lose Game 2 In Ohio

Will Warren needed a bounce-back game to save the bullpen after pitching only 1.2 innings in his last start, and he got one. He pitched 5 innings tonight. With only the high-leverage arms available in the bullpen for the Yankees, they let him down. Even 4 innings proved to be too much for the Yankee bullpen. Warren needed a strong start. Now he needs consistency. The Yankees lost this game 3-2. Is Warren ever going to be consistent for the Yankees?

Lineups: Yanks Lose Game 2 In Cleveland

The Guardians had Steven Kwan batting first and was playing left field. Nolan Jones was the right fielder and batted second.  Gabriel Arias pinch-hit for him in the seventh inning. He stayed in to play second base. Jose Ramirez batted third and was the third baseman. Kyle Manzardo the designated hitter batting fourth. Carlos Santana was the first baseman and batted fifth. Bo Naylor was the catcher and batted sixth. Angel Martínez was the center fielder and batted seventh.  Daniel Schneemann was the second baseman and batted eighth. He moved to right field in the eighth inning. Brayan Rocchio was the shortstop and batted ninth. 

For the Yankees, Ben Rice led off and was the designated hitter.  Aaron Judge was the right fielder, batting second. Cody Bellinger batted third and was the center fielder. Paul Goldschmidt was the first baseman and batted fourth. Jazz Chisholm Jr. batted fifth and played second base. Anthony Volpe batted sixth and was the designated hitter. Jasson Dominguez batted seventh and was the left fielder. JC Escarra batted eighth and was the catcher. Pablo Reyes pinch-hit for him in the seventh inning. Austin Wells came in to play catcher. Oswaldo Cabrera was the third baseman and batted ninth. 

Scoring Summary: Warren Good, but Yankees Bullpen Blows Lead

In the first inning, Rice hit a solo home run giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead. That was a good sign because Rice hit twice two games ago, and is not feeling any ill effects. In the sixth inning, Chisholm Jr. hit a sacrifice fly, driving in Aaron Judge. That gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

Kwan scored on a wild pitch from Mark Leiter Jr. in the bottom of the sixth inning. That cut the Yankees lead to 2-1. The Guardians tied the game on a Manzardo double. The score was 2-2 and both of those runs were charged to Warren. So, he could not win, the bullpen cost him. Manzado scored on an infield hit to Anthony Volpe. That gave Cleveland a 3-2 lead and the nightmare inning continued.

Game Notes

Coming into the game the Yankees had used their bullpen for a bunch of innings. The overworked bullpen’s earned run average had fallen to 4.33. It was another nice day in Cleveland with a game time temperature of 56 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny skies. Again, one could do a lot worse in Cleveland in April.

The Yankees starting pitchers have a lower earned run average than the Cleveland starters. That did not matter last night or tonight. The 41 home runs the Yankees have, counting Rice’s home run on the first pitch of the game, are the most in the major leagues. Also, Rice was the fourth different Yankee to hit a leadoff home run. That is a franchise record.

Yesterday, Ramirez (who hits the Yankees extremely well) had two extra-base hits. He had not had any extra hits all season long. Dominguez‘s 453-foot home run was the longest of his career. On this date in 1903 The New York Highlanders, the Yankees previous name, played their first game (a loss to the Washington Senators).

In this game, Judge was 4-for-4. He is hitting .411. He also had a stolen base. Tim Hill did great out of the Yankees bullpen in the seventh inning. He got 3 outs on 5 pitches. The vaunted torpedo bats do no work if batters do not hit the ball.

Conclusion

Hidden in this game, because of the Yankee loss, was the strong performance from Warren. The Yankee bullpen, which has been overworked, blew it for him. Specifically Mark Leiter Jr. The Yankees try to salvage one game of this series behind Carlos Rodon on Wednesday afternoon.