Yankees can’t keep surviving these bullpen blowups

BOSTON – There’s a perfect sense in this pointless Yankees season where, like they seem to be coming together karmically, their bullish cycle is unraveling in a way we haven’t seen in 28 Their active year to the finish line over .500.

They will never cover up the guilt of the painkillers they have trusted. Forever ended Thursday night at Fenway Park, a particularly bad time and place.

A spirited effort by the Yankees failed as Chad Green secured a two-run advantage in the ninth inning and Brooks Kriske melted into history in the 10th inning, dealing Red Sox win 5-4 that ended a four-game winning streak and took the Yankees eight games behind their group leaders in the American League East.

“In this baseball game where we played really well and won a lot of games, we also had some really tough losses like tonight,” coach Aaron Boone said. “And time and time again, those guys have come back. And that’s what we expect to do tomorrow.”

Despite that series of crushing defeats, all fueled by glitches, the Yankees are still very much in the playoffs and have a 9-4 record in their last 13 games. Ace Gerrit Cole, scheduled to start Friday night, could change the conversation yet again by delivering a strong third consecutive start and erasing the memory of his poor performance. this coming June 27th.

Except for a few moments, the Yankees might need to regroup their once lauded relief legion, which has turned to jelly even though Aroldis Chapman has risen from the ashes.

Thursday marked Green’s second ninth inning burst in this time period; Interestingly, he excelled at being named in earlier frames. Zack Britton, just back from a second injury-listed stay, is no more. Jonathan Loaisiga is on the COVID-19 injured list; All-Star pro Lucas Luetge lacks his early dominance; and Kriske followed up on his first big win on Wednesday night with an utterly humiliating performance, becoming the first Yankee to throw four wild throws in one round.

“It was just one of the nights that I didn’t make it,” said Kriske, who was selected for Triple-A Scranton after the loss. “It’s not fun at all. There’s a lot of guys fighting each other and it sucks to be the one to blow it up for the team.”

(Narrator: “It wasn’t ‘just one of those nights.’ It was a night of ages.”)

As for why Kriske found himself trying to defend his one-time lead in the 10th round… sorry, I won’t blame Boone, who exceeded his end-2021 quota, for that this. Chapman and Britton had each given a presentation two nights earlier. Justin Wilson, the warm-up, threw 1¹/¹ on Wednesday. Luis Cessa, who hit an easy eighth, hit 29 throws on Tuesday, so that’s why Green got his ninth call. And Kriske really looked sharp on Wednesday as he got his first major tournament win over the Phillies.

What the Yankees could really use are some bolder wins, such as their 9-1 win over Bosox on Sunday in The Bronx, to rest their high leverage reducing potions. However, that looks ambitious at the moment, with three more games in New England and then three at the Tropicana against the Rays. They will likely have to settle for the return of Loaisiga and perhaps Nestor Cortes.

“When you’re absent the boys, everyone is a little bit protective of each other, and that’s why you have to rely on an entire bull to have great successes in different positions.” Boone said. “We have people down there to make sure to close these things.”

Right now, the prognosis is more uncertain than certain in this highly unpredictable Yankees campaign.