Yankees’ bullpen game goes completely awry in ugly loss to Braves to start second half

Baseball has a way of surprising its spectators on any given night. 

This was not one of them. 

Because of injury concerns with Cam Schlittler and Max Fried, the Yankees began the second half Friday night by throwing a bullpen game, featuring a bullpen that was overworked and exposed heading into the break.

And it went just about how you might expect. 

Ian Hamilton got things off to a rocky start, and it did not get much better from there — with Jorbit Vivas committing a baserunning blunder that sank a shot at a rally before things got out of hand — on the way to a dud of a 7-3 loss to the Braves at Truist Park. 

The final tally was four relievers combining to throw eight innings, a far-from-ideal way to start the second half of the season.

The Yankees (53-44) have now dropped three straight games after winning five straight after losing six straight, all of which has them now trailing the Blue Jays by three games for the division. 

Ian Hamilton of the New York Yankees pitches in the first inning against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on July 18, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Yankees could have opted to bring up a starter to give some length (a la Allan Winans or Carlos Carrasco) instead of going with a straight bullpen game.

But doing so would have meant having to place Schlittler or Fried on the injured list (when the Yankees believe they can both start against the Blue Jays on Tuesday and Wednesday), optioning Hamilton or Scott Effross to Triple-A or designating Rico Garcia for assignment before he threw a pitch for them. 

“We could have [called up a starter], but we felt like all things considered, this was the best way to go,” Aaron Boone said before the game. 

Two batters into the bottom of the first, the Braves (43-53) led 1-0. One batter later, it was 2-0, and by the end of the frame, 3-0.

Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Atlanta Braves reacts after hitting a RBI double in the first inning against the New York Yankees at Truist Park on July 18, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Jurickson Profar led off with a single against Hamilton before Matt Olson and Ronald Acuña Jr. roped back-to-back doubles. Acuña later came in to score on Ozzie Albies’ sacrifice fly. 

The Yankees were shut down early by Spencer Strider, but they began to threaten in the top of the third when Vivas and Trent Grisham drew back-to-back walks with one out.

Cody Bellinger then hit a high fly ball to right field that Acuña eventually camped underneath and caught nonchalantly as Vivas tried tagging up to third. But Acuña unleashed a cannon and Vivas appeared to slow down before getting to third — despite third-base coach Luis Rojas waving for him to slide — and he was tagged out standing up by third baseman Nacho Alvarez Jr. 

Instead of having Aaron Judge bat as the tying run, the inning was over as a fundamental miscue haunted the Yankees once again. 

The Braves then piled on in the bottom of the inning, as Albies crushed a three-run homer off Garcia, the righty the Yankees claimed off waivers from the Mets on Monday. 

Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies (1) reacts after hitting a three run home run against the New York Yankees during the third inning at Truist Park.

New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) reacts after striking out against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning at Truist Park.

Garcia went on to soak up 2 2/3 innings on 53 pitches, which could buy him a ticket to DFA-land by Saturday. 

After the Braves made it a 7-0 game with a run off Scott Effross in the bottom of the fourth, the Yankees finally broke the shutout in the top of the seventh.

Pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton delivered a two-run double and Bellinger added an RBI single that made it 7-3. But Judge extinguished the rally when he struck out against lefty Dylan Lee with runners on the corners.