MILWAUKEE – The Yankees’ bullpen entered Saturday night’s bout with the Brewers boasting a collective 3.18 ERA, second only to the Rangers in the Majors. It was the kind of résumé that implies the unit was built for a contest like the one that unfolded at American Family Field.
The Yankees nursed a 2-0 lead through the bulk of the game, and after starter Cam Schlittler grinded through six scoreless innings despite taking a 108.5 mph comebacker off the back of his left calf, the stage was set for New York’s 'pen to secure the tight victory.
Hill came on in relief after Fernando Cruz allowed the tying run on an RBI single from Jackson Chourio. With men at first and second and one out, the goal was simply to keep the game alive into the 11th.
Hill got Brice Turang to hit a soft grounder to the left of the mound, seemingly setting up an easy out at first. Instead, Hill threw to third, where an unsuspecting Ryan McMahon was slowly jogging to position.
The ball hit Brewers baserunner Luis Rengifo in the hand. Everyone was safe, and what looked like a tailor-made second out instead resulted in Milwaukee loading the bases.
“I made a good pitch, and then a bad decision,” Hill said. “I feel like my instincts told me, ‘Third,’ and my instincts were wrong.”
Even upon fielding the Turang grounder, Hill was moving toward first base. It seemed everyone on the field thought he’d go for the sure out.
“Obviously, one out there, you want to get any out we can get,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I just think his aggressive nature just took over.
“Usually Timmy’s so good at handling his position, fields his position so well, especially as much as he puts the ball on the ground. I just think [it was] a mistake and being a little too aggressive.”
Milwaukee was quick to take advantage. The next batter, William Contreras, slugged a deep flyout to right fielder Aaron Judge. It would’ve been the final out of the inning had Hill gone to first on the previous at-bat. Instead, it turned out to be a game-winning sacrifice fly.
“It’s just a timing thing,” Hill said. “You have an internal clock. When I think about it now, it was a bad decision, but my internal clock told me, ‘Third.’”
Though Hill’s mistake stood out the most, the difficult night was felt throughout New York’s bullpen.
Brent Headrick, who had allowed just one run across his previous 10 appearances, allowed a Statcast-projected 420-foot homer to Jake Bauers on the very first pitch he threw in the seventh. Righty Camilo Doval had Turang in a 2-2 count with two outs in the eighth before yielding a base hit. Contreras quickly followed with a game-tying single.
Pitching with a 3-2 lead in the 10th, Cruz promptly threw a wild pitch to the first hitter he faced, allowing automatic runner Garrett Mitchell to get to third before an out was recorded.
Despite how everything unfolded, the Yankees were quick to highlight the fact that their struggles at the plate were a big reason why the bullpen spent the night navigating a tightrope. New York has scored just three runs over the first two games of the series and went 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position on Saturday.
“It’s frustrating to everybody when you go up there and you’re not trying to do too much,” second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. said. “You’re just trying to put the ball in play, put it in the right spot and score runs, and it’s not happening.”
Still, it was quite jarring seeing a normally lockdown bullpen unravel the way it did. A win was within reach, and the Yankees played with the lead through all but one inning. In the end, Hill’s 10th-inning miscue capped an overall trying night for New York's relievers.
“It’s disappointing,” Hill said. “I felt like I made the pitches I needed to, and I just didn’t execute when it came to making the right decision where to throw the ball.”