NEW YORK -- Over these first two weeks of the regular season, the Athletics’ bullpen has been maligned for its late-inning deficiencies, blowing five of its first six save opportunities of 2026.
On Wednesday night, a 3-2 A’s victory over the Yankees would not have been possible without the impressive work of that same relief corps.
In a tight ballgame that was tied up at 2-2 following the departure of A’s starter Luis Severino, there was a feeling that the bullpen was going to have to be perfect the rest of the way to come out on top, and it practically was.
The trio of Scott Barlow, Hogan Harris and Elvis Alvarado combined for three scoreless innings in relief of Severino. After Brent Rooker’s sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth put the A’s ahead by a run, Joel Kuhnel, who was called up from Triple-A on Tuesday and later appeared in his first Major League game since 2024 that night, was summoned in the bottom-half and retired the side in order to notch just his second career big league save and first since 2022 with the Reds.