“We have the pieces down there, we have the guys down there capable of shutting the game down,” manager Aaron Boone said of the Yankees’ bullpen. However, looking at their recent game against the Twins, it’s hard to believe him. And the bleacher creatures are no longer holding it in. The Yankees beat the Twins 10-9 on Tuesday night in Minneapolis — a result that offered relief, but also fresh cause for concern.

That fresh concern? Bullpen! They took a 10-1 lead thanks to 16 hits, including a home run by Trent Grisham and contributions from Volpe, Wells, Stanton, and Rice. But Cam Schlittler (four runs, five walks) and Ryan Yarbrough (three runs, two-run homer allowed) made the lead disappear. Trevor Larnach’s sac fly made it 10-8, and his ninth-inning drive almost knotted it up until Aaron Judge caught it on the wall. David Bednar gave up a solo home run but got his 25th save in a close 10-9 win.

The win came with a bitter aftertaste. Fans know that if the bullpen keeps falling like this, the postseason could be even harder to reach. The Wild Card cushion isn’t very thick. Every bad outing from the bullpen hurts not only the run difference in each game, but also club confidence and momentum. So, when the Yankees posted about the game result on X with a caption, “Back in the win column,” it followed an immediate backlash. The frustration wasn’t about this game only. Something like this happened in Monday’s game as well.

The bullpen fell apart after Carlos Rodon pitched six good innings. In the seventh inning, Luke Weaver fell apart, giving up five runs on three singles and two walks while only getting one out. Camilo Doval then gave up another RBI single, making it a 7-0 blowout. The Yankees’ relief pitchers couldn’t stop the hitters.

The pattern hasn’t escaped expert attention. Jake Asman, who co-hosts The Michael Kay Show, said, “The bullpen is the biggest reason why the New York Yankees, despite having statistically the best offense in the league, are not going to win the division in all likelihood.” The stats back it up. Since the All-Star game, the Yankees’ bullpen ERA is 5.49. Relievers like Camilo Doval have had trouble (high ERA, command problems), Lavern Weaver has had bad streaks, and a lot of games have seen leads lost in the final innings.

Although the Tuesday win pushed the Yankees to 83-67, keeping their hopes alive, but has given a reality check on what areas to fix. As the postseasons get closer, there isn’t much room for mistakes for bullpen inconsistency. Fans and analysts are worried that this deficit could be the difference between winning and losing the games.

Postseason dreams meet reality check

The emotional toll of watching leads fade away became the theme of the responses. One comment read, “You guys almost killed me.” They built a 9-run lead, then almost lost it. That kind of game is enough to give anyone a shock. Even Schlittler knows that it wasn’t a great one. As he mentioned, “It’s embarrassing, but you got to get in the zone, especially with that lead.”

The same sentiment continued, “Thanks for the heart attack guys! Same time tomorrow 👍.” The Pinstripes will play Game 3 against the Twins in this regular series. And it will be an interesting watch to see whether they will improve or the same story will repeat.

A direct jab at the Bullpen. “Bullpen is horrendous.” During the trade deadline, Brian Cashman made sure to fix the bullpen, but David Bednar has been the only reliable bullpen arm for the Yankees, consistently closing games. On the other hand, Camilo Doval has had a hard time (6.59 ERA in 16 games), while Jake Bird was sent down following bad games.

The frustration became clearer. “We should not have had to sweat out a game where we held a 10-1 lead.” When a nine-run lead doesn’t feel safe, something is really wrong. This fan response shows that they know baseball may be unpredictable, yet they want professional pitchers to keep big leads.

A harsh one, “Barely. Pitiful. Win tomorrow, or retire for real.” The fans are no longer entertaining these collapses. It shows real displeasure with a unit that always does worse than it should, given its ability level.

The Yankees beat the Twins, but there are two sides to the story. It’s just another win on the road to October baseball. Underneath that surface is a more worrying story about a club whose biggest strength—offensive production—is being hurt by its biggest shortcoming.