Bullpen game backfires as Yankees fall flat vs. Braves to start the second half

New York—Brutal start to the second half for the Yankees, as this game was basically over by the third inning as the Braves took down the Yanks 7-3. Ian Hamilton got the start for the Yankees as an opener and faced off against Spencer Strider for the Braves. 

On the second pitch of the ballgame, Trent Grisham led things off with a groundball single to right field. But that would be all for the Yankees. 

Hamilton gave up a leadoff single in the bottom of the first inning, followed by an RBI double from Matt Olson to quickly give the Braves a 1-0 lead before Hamilton could record an out. Ronald Acuna then picked up an RBI double of his own to make it 2-0. A couple of batters later, Ozzie Albies came through with a sacrifice fly to make it a 3-0 game. 

"Yeah, I mean, Profar jumps him right away and rolls a single, you know, which is fine," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "But just, you know, a little bit not the best of command there and against going through, obviously, the meat part of the order. You know, Olson gets a ball down the line. Then there was the blooper by Acuña. You know he's able to get out of it. But just the stuff was fine; it was just not enough quality strikes against, especially a couple of their good hitters." 

The newest Yankee, Rico Garcia, took over for Hamilton on the mound after a brutal first inning and worked around a couple of two-out walks to put together a scoreless inning. 

In the top of the third inning, Jorbit Vivas and Grisham worked back-to-back one-out walks. Then Cody Bellinger flew out to right field, and Vivas was thrown out trying to tag up going to third and not sliding with Aaron Judge coming up, just unacceptable base running. 

"Yeah, I feel like I started running, and I was making good pace, and then I slowed down," Vivas said. "You know, and that's my mistake. Acuña has a really good arm, you know, especially in that situation there. You know, pretty strong arm, and at the same time, I feel like something that I can't let happen again." 

"Got deeked," Boone said on Vivas's decision not to slide. " I mean that can't happen. Just can't happen, can't happen." 

Garcia came back out for the bottom of the third inning and gave up a single, followed by a double, then a three-run home run to Albies to make it a 6-0 game. 

Judge led off the top of the fourth inning with a line drive single to left field. However, that would be all for the Yankees in the fourth. 

Garcia picked up the first two outs of the bottom of the fourth inning, then was replaced by Scott Effross. Effross served up a triple to Acuna, followed by an RBI infield single from Drake Baldwin to make it a 7-0 game. 

Anthony Volpe worked a leadoff walk in the top of the fifth inning. A couple batters later, Vivas lined a single to left field, then Grisham bounced into a double play to end the threat. 

Effros stayed in the game for the bottom of the fifth inning and worked around a two-out single to put together a clean inning. 

JT Brubaker took over for Effross on the bump in the bottom of the sixth inning and put together a scoreless inning. 

Ben Rice lined a one-out double into the right field corner. A few batters later, Austin Wells lined a single up the middle to put runners on the corners. Then Giancarlo Stanton pinch hit for Vivas and sent a rocket two-run double into the left field corner to make it a 7-2 game.

Grisham followed that up with a walk, and Belli then came through with an RBI single to make it a 7-3 game. 

Brubaker remained in the game for the bottom of the seventh and worked a 1-2-3 inning. 

Rice lined a double into the left field corner in the top of the eighth inning for his second hit of the night, but that would be all for the Yanks. 

Brubaker stayed in the game in the bottom of the eighth for his third inning of work and retired the Braves in order. 

The Yankees went down without much of a fight in the top of the ninth inning to end this one 7-3. 

The Yankees will look to bounce back tomorrow with Will Warren on the mound, facing off against Joey Wentz, who will be an opener for the Braves. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: Brutal way to start the second half for the Yankees, as this game was over in the third inning after the Yankees went down 6-0. With Max Fried recovering from his blister and Cam Schlittler skipping a start due to discomfort near his right biceps. So Hamilton was the opener, and he just didn't have it in the first inning, giving up three runs. Garcia, who was just added to the roster, also gave up three runs as the bullpen game just did not go as planned. The offense put up three runs late, thanks to a two-run double from Stabnton and an RBI single from Belli, but it was too little, too late. On to tomorrow, as the Yankees will look to avoid losing a second series in a row with Warren on the mound. Also, Luis Gil looked solid in his second rehab start with 3.1 IP | 2 H | 2 R | 2 BB | 7 K Pitches (Strikes): 57 (39). Joel Sherman also just announced that Garcia has been DFAed, so the Yankees will need another arm for tomorrow. I’m assuming it will be Clayton Beeter getting called up to replace him.