Phillies pound Yankees' bullpen, score 10 runs in final three innings
Yankees relief pitcher Luke Weaver allowed two runs in 0.2 innings against the Philadelphia Phillies at Yankee Stadium on Friday. Credit: Brad Penner
The Yankees shook things up Friday afternoon when they traded for Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon, a much-needed addition to strengthen an obvious weak spot.
McMahon was not in pinstripes for Friday night’s series opener against the Phillies, who exposed another area of great need for the Yankees six days before the trade deadline: the bullpen.
Will Warren was steady in a 5 2⁄3-inning start and the Yankees’ bats did their part with four homers, but Tim Hill, Luke Weaver, Ian Hamilton and Scott Effross imploded in the Yankees’ 12-5 loss at Yankee Stadium.
“It’s a challenge right now,” Aaron Boone said. “But we got to have guys step up.”
The Yankees (56-47), who have lost 22 of their last 36 games, fell 5 1⁄2 games behind AL East-leading Toronto. T
heir defensive issues appeared again on Friday with two more errors.
Warren allowed two runs — Kyle Schwarber’s two-run homer that tied it at 2 in the fifth — and five hits, striking out seven and walking three. “I thought he was good,” Boone said. “Put us in a position to win a game.”
But Hill and Weaver each was charged with two runs in two-thirds of an inning, Hamilton gave up two in the eighth and Effross — who was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after the game — allowed four in the ninth.
“I’m not too concerned,” Austin Wells said of the bullpen. “We made mistakes over the middle, and they hit it. Those guys have been great for us all year, and they’re going to continue to make great pitches for us.”
“All lines are in the water right now,” Boone said of any bullpen additions. “ . . . You never know what’s going to happen.”
The Yankees held a 3-2 lead when Weaver relieved Hill with men on second and third and one out in the seventh.
Weaver got Nick Castellanos to hit a grounder to Paul Goldschmidt, who airmailed the throw home as Trea Turner scored to tie it at 3. J.T. Realmuto then hit a three-run homer to put the Phillies (59-44) up 6-3.
Anthony Volpe’s homer and Aaron Judge’s sacrifice fly in the seventh made it 6-5, but Schwarber’s 36th homer — a two-out, two-run shot off Hamilton — put the Phillies ahead 8-5.
Cody Bellinger’s homer in the first inning and Wells’ blast in the second made it 2-0. Giancarlo Stanton’s homer in the sixth gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead. All three came with two outs.
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
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