Yankees fans, pour a stiff drink, and try to breathe through it, because what we just witnessed over the last two nights wasn’t just bad baseball. It was a masterclass in bullpen collapse, served cold, twice in a row, with a side of historical futility.
Yankees History Made, For All the Wrong Reasons
Wednesday night, the Yankees lost 11–1 to the Detroit Tigers. And if you felt déjà vu, that’s because it was the exact same storyline as Tuesday night’s disaster: the bullpen completely melted down, again. For the second straight night, New York’s relievers gave up nine earned runs. And for the first time in the entire history of the Yankees — that’s over a century of baseball, folks — this nightmare happened in back-to-back games.
You know it’s bad when an outfielder has to take the mound, and he’s the best of the bunch. That’s not hyperbole. Austin Slater, bless his heart, threw 36 mph lobs in the ninth inning and somehow managed to be the only Yankee reliever who didn’t give up a run. That’s where we are. That’s the state of the Yankees’ bullpen in September.
Identical Implosions, Back-to-Back
It’s not like these games were out of hand early, either. Tuesday was a 2–2 tie through six innings before the bullpen coughed up nine runs in the seventh. Wednesday was the same vibe; it all fell apart. And while the Tigers certainly came to play, this wasn’t peak 2012 Miguel Cabrera’s Tigers. This was 2025 Detroit, and they made the Yankees relievers look like Double-A call-ups on bad hamstrings.
But through it all, Aaron Boone is sticking to the company line. “Track record. Stuff. Who they are,” he said, rattling off words like a man trying to remember why he left the stove on. Boone still believes this bullpen can flip the switch, pointing to isolated meltdowns and the deceptive nature of short sample ERAs. And hey, maybe he’s right. Maybe this really is just a couple of bad nights. Maybe the guys who were nails in July can find their groove again.
One Last Chance Before Boston
But let’s be real, when your “most effective pitcher” is a backup outfielder tossing underhand junk, you’ve got a problem. A big, loud, panic-button-smashing kind of problem.
The Yankees have one more shot at Detroit on Thursday before heading into Fenway, and if there was ever a time for this bullpen to rediscover its spine, it’s right now. Because October doesn’t care about excuses, and the Red Sox sure won’t be lobbing 36 mph charity pitches down the middle.
