Splat.
That was the sound of the good feelings the Yankees had built up with their recent surge hitting the windshield of a getaway car driven by their suddenly dormant lineup and a floundering bullpen.
Halfway through this 12-game gauntlet against playoff contenders, the Yankees were 4-2 with a pair of series wins.
Then the Tigers came into town and put a halt to that, with the Yankees delivering a pair of duds so far that will have them trying to fend off a sweep on Thursday.
Yankees bats went quiet again in another close game before the bullpen, for the second straight night, went off the rails to ensure there would be no late comeback as they fell to the Tigers 11-1 on Wednesday night in The Bronx.
The clunker ended with outfielder Austin Slater on the mound to get the final two outs of the top of the ninth — the only “reliever” to not give up a run after Mark Leiter Jr., Camilo Doval, Tim Hill and Luke Weaver had combined to allow nine runs while recording only seven outs.
“Look, this is two days,” manager Aaron Boone said. “The bullpen has been closing out some really important games for us of late that has let us go on a pretty good run. These are two nights in a row where we haven’t gotten it done. But we were also behind and chasing a little bit.”
On Tuesday night, it was a 2-2 game entering the seventh inning when the Yankees bullpen collapsed and handed the Tigers a 12-2 win.
On Wednesday, the Yankees trailed 2-0 heading into the seventh when again the relief corps crumbled and incited more concern about what it might do in October.
For those counting at home, that is 19 runs (18 earned) allowed by the bullpen over the past two nights, marking the first time in franchise history Yankees relievers have given up nine-plus runs in back-to-back games, according to Stathead’s Katie Sharp.
“We’re going to work with what we got and we’re going to get it done,” catcher Austin Wells said. “We expect to win every single time. When we don’t, we show up the next day and salvage the series [Thursday].”
The Yankees (80-65) avoided a shutout when Wells homered in the eighth — meaning their only three runs so far this series have come on solo shots — but by then it hardly mattered. The only saving grace of the night was that the Blue Jays (who hold the tiebreaker against the Yankees) and Red Sox also lost, meaning the Yankees remained three games back of Toronto for first place in the AL East and in a virtual tie with Boston for the top AL wild card.
Once again, Carlos Rodón put the Yankees in a strong position to win, allowing two runs (on a Gleyber Torres single) over six solid innings while lowering his ERA to 3.11.
But it all went to waste, in part because of a lineup that could not mount anything against Tigers righty Jack Flaherty, who tossed five shutout innings.
Their best chance came in the third inning, when the Yankees had two on and one out for Aaron Judge, who grounded into the first of his two inning-ending double plays on the night.
So by the time Rodón left the game, the Yankees were trailing 2-0, meaning Boone did not use his highest-leverage relievers and the wheels soon came off.
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Leiter, who gave up four runs without recording an out in the disastrous seventh inning Tuesday night, allowed a run in the seventh before Doval got tagged for three in the eighth, including a two-run shot. Hill and Weaver also gave up two-run homers as the Tigers turned the game into another laugher.
“Can’t get away with as [many] mistakes against teams like that,” Wells said. “They’ve made some good swings on some good pitches. And also, we’ve put ourselves in holes. I think we’re at our best when we’re getting ahead.”
The Yankees bullpen ended the night with a 4.54 ERA — it was 4.27 on Monday — which was the seventh-highest mark in the majors, not quelling any of the worries about whether it can hold up come playoff time.
“Obviously we got to get a couple guys on track so we create that depth that we can have down there,” Boone said. “This is what we have. I have a lot of confidence in their ability and their stuff. But we got to bring it together and we haven’t done that consistently enough yet.”