Very few teams in Major League Baseball have been struggling more than the New York Yankees lately, as Aaron Boone and company continue to slide down the standings as the playoffs get closer. One of the reasons for that has been the struggles of the bullpen, and that continued on Tuesday.
The Yankees' relievers let them down once again in a 2-0 loss to the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night, and Devin Williams was the culprit. After recently being demoted from the closer role in New York, Williams gave up the only two runs of the game in just 2/3 of an inning and was credited with the loss.
After the game, Williams couldn't believe that he had let his team down again.
“I mean, I don't really know what to say at this point,” Williams said, per Erik Boland of Newsday Sports. “You just continue to work and keep trying to execute and help the team any way I can.”
Williams entered a scoreless game in the bottom of the eighth inning, but the Rangers wasted no time finally getting on the board with the struggling Yankees reliever on the mound. Adolis Garcia got things moving with a one-out double to left field before Joc Pederson and Wyatt Langford drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Rowdy Tellez then drove Garcia and Pederson in with a two-run single that broke the tie and gave Texas the upper hand.
Williams then picked up the second out before Mark Leiter Jr. came in to finish the inning. The former All-Star closer threw 29 pitches to get just two outs, and the Yankees' offense was unable to come through and make up the deficit in the ninth.
Williams has now given up at least one earned run in four consecutive outings and is having comfortably the worst season of his career statistically. The former Milwaukee Brewers standout's ERA sat above five coming into Tuesday night, and that number is only going up after this contest.
It is clear that Williams is lacking for confidence, as is the rest of New York's revamped bullpen after a huge trade deadline in that room. If the Yankees want to turn things around and make a playoff run, that will have to get fixed in a hurry.
