{"id":268231,"date":"2026-04-15T01:06:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T01:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/268231\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T01:06:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T01:06:29","slug":"yankees-get-a-much-needed-win-but-shaky-bullpen-is-the-biggest-takeaway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/268231\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees get a much-needed win, but shaky bullpen is the biggest takeaway"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 Aaron Judge saw Mike Trout\u2019s two home runs and matched them. Trent Grisham, homerless all season, hit a couple of bombs himself. Even Jos\u00e9 Caballero went deep, and then scored the winning run off a wild pitch in the New York Yankees\u2019 gutsy, 11-10 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Fans will remember the victory for how it snapped a five-game losing streak<\/a> that got especially ugly over the weekend in Tampa Bay, and for how it would have otherwise been a contender for worst loss of the season, even in mid-April.<\/p>\n

The Yankees, though, should mark it as yet another reason that use of their bullpen should come with directions to hold your nose.<\/p>\n

Going into the season, it was going to be hard to instantly trust any of their relievers outside of David Bednar, Tim Hill and Fernando Cruz. Little has happened to change that. On Monday, the Yankees got more poor results from Jake Bird and Camilo Doval \u2014 two of their disappointing trade deadline acquisitions from last year.<\/p>\n

Bird gave up a three-run homer to Trout that erased the 7-4 advantage he had been handed with two outs in the sixth inning. He also let evaporate an 8-7 lead the Yankees had in the seventh on a one-out sacrifice fly by Josh Lowe.<\/p>\n

The Yankees demoted Bird after the game. The options at Triple A to replace him aren\u2019t all that appetizing.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook,\u201d manager Aaron Boone said, \u201cobviously a tough night for him. But I also thought he kind of made a lot of really good pitches, too. But, obviously, a couple of mistakes that they really put charges into to set them up and get them back in the game. Had a hard time finishing off at-bats where he was ahead in the count.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doval did his part when he got the Yankees out of a jam with a runner on third and two out after he entered for Bird in the seventh. But he then gave up a leadoff single in the eighth before Trout worked him to a full count and hit a low slider for a two-run homer that made it 10-8 Angels.<\/p>\n

Boone said that \u201cTrout hit a breaking ball on him,\u201d on that homer. Trout actually golfed a low-middle slider from Doval, sending it soaring over the visitors\u2019 bullpen in left-center field. It registered at 445 feet. Trout didn\u2019t just \u201chit a breaking ball on him.\u201d He destroyed it.<\/p>\n

MIKE TROUT CRUSHES ANOTHER HOME RUN 445 FEET \ud83d\ude33 pic.twitter.com\/DikJFFhPTa<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 MLB (@MLB) April 14, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Boone said he thought he was actually \u201ca little bit unfair\u201d to Doval by bringing him back for a second inning Monday, even if he had thrown just five pitches to the only batter he faced. Boone\u2019s reasoning? Doval had thrown 11 pitches the day before and eight pitches on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s throwing the ball well,\u201d Boone said. \u201cI thought the stuff was really good. He was in the strike zone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doval had entered the night having given up four earned runs in six total innings (6.00 ERA) over eight games, with six hits, a walk and six strikeouts.<\/p>\n

And it didn\u2019t help the Yankees that the typically solid Cruz entered in the fourth inning for starter Will Warren, then walked the first batter he saw to load the bases. Cruz then issued another walk to Zach Neto that brought in a run and tied the game at 4-4.<\/p>\n

The Yankees needed more from Warren, who should have been able to last more than 3 2\/3 innings (three hits, six strikeouts, one walk). None of the four runs he allowed were earned, thanks to Caballero botching a grounder to start the fourth inning.<\/p>\n

Boone added that lefty relievers Brett Headrick and Ryan Yarbrough weren\u2019t available after they\u2019d both pitched Sunday. He said that he wanted to keep righty Paul Blackburn for later in the game if the Yankees needed length. Blackburn pitched a scoreless eighth.<\/p>\n

Still, the Yankees\u2019 problem was having to rely on Bird and Doval in key spots, and they didn\u2019t show up again. They were able to send down Bird, but it\u2019s hard to imagine them doing the same with Doval even though he does have two options. They need him to find consistency, which he hasn\u2019t for much of the time he\u2019s been in pinstripes.<\/p>\n

After the game, Warren said the Yankees \u201chave confidence handing the ball over to (the bullpen) to finish the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThose guys are nasty down there from top to bottom,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Yes, and too often so far, the nastiness makes Yankees fans want to hold their noses.<\/p>\n