Yankees' Aaron Boone Reacts to Bullpen Meltdown vs. Marlins, 'Not How You Draw It Up'

The first returns on the New York Yankees' bullpen additions at the trade deadline were about as bad as they could have been, with Jake Bird, David Bednar and Camilo Doval combining to give up nine runs (seven earned) in Friday's 13-12 loss to the Miami Marlins.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the game "it's not how you draw it up" when discussing the bullpen's implosion, but expressed confidence all three pitchers will rebound quickly.

"Those guys are really good at what they do," Boone added. "It’s not the first time they’ve had a rough one. I fully expect them to bounce back."

The Yankees acted aggressive on Thursday in acquiring Bednar from the Pittsburgh Pirates, Bird from the Colorado Rockies and Doval from the San Francisco Giants. That trio was brought in to solidify a bullpen that ranked 20th in ERA (4.19) through July 31.

Bednar and Doval were having strong seasons when they were dealt. Bednar had a 2.37 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 38 innings for the Pirates. Doval's ERA was at 3.09 with 50 strikeouts in 46.2 innings with San Francisco.

Bird's ERA was inflated at 4.73 with the Rockies, but his peripherals were strong with a 3.46 FIP and 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

Everything that could have gone wrong in their first appearances for the Yankees, did go wrong. Bird recorded one out and allowed four of the five hitters he faced to reach base, highlighted by giving up a grand slam to Kyle Stowers.

Doval was let down, in part, by the defense behind him in the bottom of the ninth. José Caballero had the ball slide under his glove in right field when Xavier Edwards singled, allowing the game-tying run to score from first and advance Edwards all the way to third with one out.

Agustín Ramírez drove in the winning run on a little tapper in front of the plate that catcher Austin Wells had to field, giving Edwards enough time and space to score.

The Yankees led by as many as six runs and were up 9-4 after Trent Grisham's three-run homer in the top of the seventh.

As rough as things were for the Yankees' new bullpen trio on Friday night, there's no reason to panic after one outing.

Devin Williams, who was given the day off due to a heavy workload recently, had a 10.03 through 14 appearances this season. The two-time All-Star has a 3.03 ERA and 41 strikeouts over 29.2 innings in 31 games since May 7.

Tim Hill and Luke Weaver were also held out on Friday because of their recent usage.

Relief pitching is often volatile and can be incredibly frustrating when it's not going well, but the Yankees have plenty of depth to work with going forward.

Friday's loss did hurt because the Toronto Blue Jays also lost, costing the Yankees an opportunity to move within 2.5 games of first place in the AL East. They still hold the No. 1 wild card spot, but the Boston Red Sox are only one game back in the loss column.

The Yankees will look to rebound on Saturday when they send Cam Schlittler to the mound against Eury Perez.