Yankees' bullpen game backfires as baserunning baffles in second-half opener vs. Braves

Gary Phillips, New York Daily News on Jul 18, 2025

Published in Baseball

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ATLANTA — In their first game out of the All-Star break, the Yankees decided to throw a bullpen game on Friday. The plan immediately and repeatedly backfired on the Bombers, resulting in a 7-3 loss to the fourth-place Braves.

With Max Fried’s blistered finger still not ready for game action, Cam Schlittler experiencing upper arm soreness, Carlos Rodón pitching in the Midsummer Classic and the Yankees unwilling to alter the schedules of Will Warren and Marcus Stroman, the club asked Ian Hamilton, a reliever, to open on Friday. Manager Aaron Boone and the Yankees considered calling someone up to assist the situation, but they ultimately felt “this was the best way to go,” the manager said.

“We’ll have to piece it together,” Boone added before the Yankees found themselves in a quick hole.

Hamilton, mostly relegated to low-leverage situations after some early-season struggles, had the Yankees down 2-0 before recording an out, as Matt Olson and Ronald Acuña Jr. followed Jurickson Profar’s leadoff single with RBI doubles. An Ozzie Albies sac fly made it 3-0 nothing before Hamilton could finish his only inning of work.

Albies struck again in the third, clobbering a three-run homer off Rico Garcia, who was added to the Yankees’ injury-riddled bullpen after being claimed off waivers from the Mets over the break.

Albies’ jack came moments after Jorbit Vivas and Acuña left those in attendance bewildered, albeit for different reasons, to conclude the top of the third.

After catching a Cody Bellinger fly ball, Acuña gunned Vias down at third base to complete an inning-ending double play. Acuña made an electric throw on a line from the corner of right field, but Vivas didn’t slide to avoid a tag at third and slowed down before reaching the base, thinking he would be safe. Third base coach Luis Rojas appeared to signal for a slide, but Vivas — one of the last players on the Yankees’ roster — didn’t listen with Aaron Judge in the on-deck circle.

Vivas remained in the game following his bone-headed mistake, though Giancarlo Stanton pinch hit for him in the seventh inning.

Boone has defended the Yankees’ running this season after the team, in John Sterling’s words, ran the bases “like drunks” last year. However, the Yankees entered Friday’s contest with a BsR — FanGraphs’ all-encompassing baserunning metric — of -4.3. That ranked 24th in the majors.

The Yankees had a BsR of -17.1 last season, easily the worst mark in baseball.

While the Yankees continued to baffle on the bases, their beleaguered bullpen saw Scott Effross allow an RBI infield single to Drake Baldwin in the fourth inning.

The Yankees’ lineup, meanwhile, didn’t put up a fight against Spencer Strider, who refused to surrender a run, walked three and struck out eight over six innings. Stanton’s pinch-hit appearance resulted in a two-run double, while Cody Bellinger added an RBI single in the seventh, but Judge struck out with runners on the corners to end the inning.

With the second half now underway, the second-place Yankees will send an actual starter, Warren, to the mound on Saturday. The rookie right-hander flashed potential but also endured growing pains over his first 20 starts of the season, posting a 4.63 ERA.

Joey Wentz, a reliever, will start for the Braves.