Yankees’ offensive struggles, bullpen woes lead to Old-Timers’ Day loss to Brewers

On an Old-Timers’ Day honoring the 1998 Yankees, the current Bronx Bombers failed to channel that record-setting team’s winning ways.

The Yankees only managed four hits – all singles – in Saturday’s 9-2 loss to the NL Central-leading Brewers, who took the lead for good on an eighth-inning home run by No. 9 hitter Tyrone Taylor.

The loss was the third in a row for the Yankees, who had won their previous five.

“It’s tough,” Yankees star Aaron Judge said. “We kind of got on a roll there, and then we’ve hit a little skid here, but that’s baseball.”

Taylor’s tie-breaking solo shot was the first of five hits allowed by Yankees reliever Jonathan Loaisiga, who surrendered three runs in the eighth to take the loss. Relievers Matt Krook and Ron Marinaccio were similarly ineffective in Milwaukee’s four-run ninth inning and were both sent to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after the game.

The Yankees’ offensive and bullpen woes squandered another strong start by converted reliever Michael King, who tied a career high with nine strikeouts over five innings.

King, 28, allowed two runs, one of which was earned. Willy Adames lined an RBI triple against him in the fourth inning, then scored on the same play on a DJ LeMahieu throwing error.

The right-handed King started 59 games in the minor leagues and 10 with the Yankees across 2020 and 2021, but he operated exclusively out of the bullpen last year and did the same through the first four months of this season.

Injuries to the Yankees’ rotation, coupled with the absence of Domingo German for alcohol abuse treatment, opened a starting spot for King, who has built up his pitch count with each outing. His 79 pitches Saturday were his most of the year.

“I definitely like that role a lot better,” King said. “It’s also great having all the guys around me to coach me up. After the game, I sat down with [special advisor Andy] Pettitte for a few minutes and just went over different things. He obviously watched my [last] outing in Houston, gave me some pointers to work on. I felt like I was able to do what he was talking to me about, and it’s really just throwing offspeed for strikes.”

It was the fifth start of the season for King, who boasts a 1.93 ERA and 24 strikeouts over 18.2 innings in those games.

“He continues to very much look the part as he continues to get built up more and more,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I thought overall, stuff-wise, he was good. I thought he was sharp. I thought he kind of mixed [all of his pitches].”

Saturday started with an OId-Timers’ Day ceremony that doubled as a 25th-anniversary celebration of the ’98 Yankees, who won a then-record 114 regular season games and the first of three consecutive World Series titles. Derek Jeter attended the annual Old-Timers’ Day festivities for the first time Saturday and was joined by former teammates including Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada.

“Just seeing the camaraderie out of all those guys, their attitude, their approach to every single day,” said Judge, who mentioned Pettitte and Joe Torre among those he connected with Saturday. “Just seeing how close they are and how competitive they are is a pretty amazing example they set.”

The sun shined during the ceremony, but a torrential downpour followed, delaying the first pitch by two hours and 34 minutes. That contributed to a long day in the Bronx, where Anthony Volpe’s fourth-inning RBI single was one of few highlights for the home team.

The Yankees fell to 70-72 and nine games out of the final AL Wild card spot with 20 to play. They have not finished a season with a losing record since 1992.

The Yankees will try to avoid a three-game sweep Sunday afternoon, with ace Gerrit Cole (13-4, 2.90 ERA) looking to continue his AL Cy Young Award-caliber campaign. He’s set to face Brewers ace Corbin Burnes (9-8, 3.63 ERA), who won the NL Cy Young Award in 2021.