Reliever Chasen Shreve keeps Yankees in game

Michael Pineda walked off the Yankee Stadium mound in the fourth inning on Wednesday without recording an out and allowing the Blue Jays’ lead to balloon to five runs after a Kevin Pillar home run.

With the game spiraling out of control, in came Chasen Shreve to do the often overlooked work of a stopgap reliever. He faced seven batters over two innings, struck out two, walked one and didn’t allow a run. He’s been a rare bright spot for a struggling bullpen of late.

“I warmed up so fast that I was just trying to calm myself down,” Shreve said after the Yankees fell, 7-6. “I didn’t think I had my best stuff today, just kept battling and trying to make my pitches.”

He’s made eight appearances since June 20, and has allowed only four runs, including three against the White Sox on June 26. His entrance in the fourth wasn’t exactly noteworthy, but when he left, the Blue Jays were in the same spot as when he had entered and the Yankees had posted a 6-5 lead.

“That’s when everybody started getting more energetic and then we ended up scoring four and taking the lead,” Shreve said.

Shreve, a 26-year-old lefthander, said he normally starts stretching in the fifth inning and had to speed up his routine. Once he was in the game, he walked Jose Bautista before settling down to retire the next six.

He turned out to be the bridge from the struggling Pineda to another usually reliable reliever, Chad Green. Green allowed a run and was charged with the blown save, while Dellin Betances took the loss after allowing another run and struggling to find the strike zone.

Each pitcher knows the feeling of success and coming up short, and Shreve said he focused on keeping the deficit where it was.

“It’s just my job honestly,” Shreve said. “They pick me up when I struggle, I try to pick them up when they struggle. We’re a team and that’s what we do.”

Over the season, Shreve is 2-1 with a 2.63 ERA over 24 innings.