The New York Yankees bullpen looked shaky in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader against the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the nightcap, it looked like one of the best units in baseball.
Five relievers combined for nine innings of one-run ball against a Dodgers lineup that’s been one of the most dangerous in the majors all season, closing out a 2-1 win at Yankee Stadium and securing a doubleheader split. The turnaround from the first game to the second was stark, and it came down to two very different bullpen performances on the same day.
Yankees Relievers Deliver When It Mattered Most
GettyPaul Blackburn of the New York Yankees.
Ryan Yarbrough, Paul Blackburn, Brent Headrick, Fernando Cruz, and David Bednar combined to shut down the Dodgers in the nightcap, with Cruz’s lone blemish coming on a solo home run to pinch hitter Tommy Edman in the eighth inning.
Bednar picked up the win, striking out two Dodgers over 1 2/3 hitless innings. Headrick led the staff with three strikeouts and didn’t allow a hit either. Los Angeles managed just four hits total in the nightcap, and no Dodgers hitter recorded more than one.
Manager Aaron Boone singled out the length he got from his top two arms as the difference-maker.
“Blackburn being able to get seven outs for us… that was huge,” Boone said.
Yarbrough needed just 36 pitches to cover 2 2/3 innings, while Blackburn worked 2 1/3 innings on 25 pitches. Headrick, who has quietly become one of the most reliable arms in the bullpen, extended his scoreless streak to 41 outings out of his last 49 relief appearances, a mark that leads all of baseball.
Game 1 Told a Different Story
GettyAaron Boone of the New York Yankees.
The bullpen’s dominance in the nightcap stood in sharp contrast to how Game 1 unraveled. New York trailed just 3-1 entering the eighth inning before Boone turned to Jake Bird and Camilo Doval, who allowed seven consecutive Dodgers to reach base as the deficit ballooned to 8-1.
Bird’s outing unraveled quickly. He opened the eighth inning by striking out Mookie Betts, but that ended up being his only out of the frame. Teoscar Hernández drove in a run against him, and three more singles followed before Boone pulled him from the game.
Bird, who joined the Yankees via the 2025 trade deadline in a deal with the Colorado Rockies, was optioned to Triple-A after the game, with his ERA sitting at 5.93 across 36 appearances this season. New York called up Kervin Castro to fill the roster spot in time for the second game, giving the bullpen a fresh look before the nightcap even started.
Rodriguez’s Brief Stay Ends After the Split
New York also called up Elmer Rodriguez as the 27th man for Sunday’s doubleheader, a move made possible in part by Bird’s demotion opening a roster spot. Rodriguez ultimately wasn’t needed on the mound, and the Yankees announced after the doubleheader that he was being returned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The Yankees have been managing his workload carefully since he only has two minor league options remaining this season. Using him strictly as the 27th man let New York keep him available as length in reserve without burning one of those limited options.
Final Word for the Yankees
New York’s bullpen showed both extremes in a single day, a collapse in Game 1 and a near-flawless performance in Game 2. For a pitching staff still missing two starters, that kind of split says as much about organizational depth as it does about any individual outing.
The Yankees avoided a sweep, but the Dodgers still took the series 2-1. That version of the bullpen from Game 2 needs to show up more often as New York waits for reinforcements to return.
Depth matters.
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