The New York Yankees bullpen has had trouble holding on to late leads, and that trend continued on a rainy Monday night in the Bronx as they blew a three-run lead and fell 4-3 to the San Diego Padres in the series opener.
New York (19-16) led 3-0 heading into the eighth inning when the momentum shifted to San Diego (23-11). Devin Williams was brought in and he struggled with command, walking two and giving up a single to load the bases with two, which led to Aaron Boone bringing in his closer, Luke Weaver, for a four-out save but he was unable to bail out Williams. Weaver, who hadn’t allowed a run in 13 appearances this season, surrendered a two-run double to Manny Machado, followed by a two-run single to Xander Bogaerts that flipped the lead to San Diego.
New York couldn’t respond late, as the Padres’ bullpen slammed the door shut. Robert Suarez struck out two in the ninth to collect his league-leading 14th save.
Trent Grisham opened the scoring in the third inning with his ninth home run of the season, a two-run shot into the second deck in right. Anthony Volpe chipped in a sacrifice fly in his return to the lineup after missing Sunday’s game with shoulder soreness.
Carlos Rodón was sharp yet again for the Yankees, tossing 6.2 scoreless innings while allowing just three hits, one walk, and striking out five.
Aaron Judge extended his on-base streak to 31 games with a walk but saw his 14-game hit streak snapped, dropping his average to .414.
The Yankees have dropped three straight for the second time this season and five of their last seven.
The series between New York and San Diego continues Tuesday at 7:05 p.m., with Clarke Schmidt on the mound for the Yankees opposite former Yankee Michael King.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].