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Yankees demote Brooks Kriske after epic meltdown

Yankees reliever Brooks Kriske wishes he could go back in time. Kriske became the first pitcher in Yankees history to throw four or more wild pitches in a single inning when he blew the Yankees...

Yankees reliever Brooks Kriske wishes he could go back in time.

Kriske became the first pitcher in Yankees history to throw four or more wild pitches in a single inning when he blew the Yankees lead in a 5-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox. After the game, he was sent back down to Triple-A with no corresponding move announced.

“Just pure execution,’’ Kriske told reporters. “It’s part of the game. Obviously, I’ve got to do a better job. I want to be someone the team can rely on in big spots. It’s something I’m gonna have to do better… It sucks to be the one to blow it for the team.”

To start the tenth inning, the 27-year-old had Rafael Devers on second. Devers moved to third after the first wild pitch. The next wild pitch sent Devers home to tie up the game at 4.

Kriske then walked Xander Bogaerts before moving him all the way to third on his third and fourth wild pitches. The nail in the coffin was a walk-off sac fly to right field from Hunter Renfroe.

The Yankees demoted Brooks Kriske after he threw four wild pitches against the Red Sox.
Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

The final stat line for Kriske was one hit, one run, and one strikeout with his four wild pitches in just one inning. His ERA ballooned to 10.80 after the blown save.

“It was just one of those nights I wasn’t executing,” Kriske, who earned his first career win Wednesday night against the Phillies, said.

“It’s not fun. There’s a lot of guys battling their butts off and it sucks to be the one to blow it for the team.”

The bullpen issues go far beyond Kriske.

Chad Green allowed two runs on five hits in the ninth inning for his second blown save. Jonathan Loaisiga and Nector Cortes are currently on the COVID-19 injured list, and Zack Britton just returned from injury.

Aroldis Chapman has seemingly returned to his usual form, but the lefty had pitched the previous two nights in wins over the Phillies.

“In this stretch of baseball where we’ve won a lot of games, we’ve had some incredibly tough losses like tonight,’’ manager Aaron Boone said after the Yankees’ four-game winning streak was snapped. “Time and time again, guys have bounced back. That’s what we expect to do [Friday].”

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Evan Orris

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