Bullpen Meltdown Sinks Yankees in 5-2 Series-Tying Loss to Cubs

Yankees 2, Cubs 5. Max Fried was dealing for the New York Yankees through 5.1 innings at Wrigley on Saturday night, and then the bullpen happened.

Spencer Jones's go-ahead homer in the top of the seventh looked like it might hold up for a while. It didn't survive the bottom half of the inning, when Nico Hoerner tied it right back up and, two outs later, Pete Crow-Armstrong put the Cubs in front for good. Final: Cubs 5, Yankees 2, in front of 39,630 people and a 21 mph wind blowing straight in from center. A series that was 1-0 Yankees after Friday night is now split, with the rubber match Sunday.

The Bottom of the Seventh

Fried had thrown 78 pitches through 5.1 innings, striking out seven and allowing just one run -- on a wild pitch, no less, with Pete Crow-Armstrong scoring from third in the bottom of the first without so much as a base hit. That's the kind of game Fried was throwing. Quiet, professional, the kind that doesn't show up on a highlight reel but wins you a lot of baseball games.

Then Aaron Boone went to the pen, and the seventh inning turned into a demolition -- just not right away.

Fernando Cruz came on and served up a game-tying homer to Hoerner on a 2-2 pitch, 372 feet out to left. Cruz settled in after that, getting Ian Happ on a lineout and Dansby Swanson on a groundout -- two quick outs, and the Yankees looked like they'd escape the inning tied at two. Then Cruz walked pinch-hitter Pedro Ramírez, Boone went back to the pen for Brent Headrick, and Headrick allowed a go-ahead triple to Crow-Armstrong that scored Ramírez, then a Seiya Suzuki single that plated Crow-Armstrong for good measure. Two relievers, three runs, and a 2-1 Yankees lead was a 4-2 Cubs lead by the time everybody sat back down.

Jones Does His Part

If you're looking for a bright spot, start with Spencer Jones. He went 2-for-4 with the go-ahead solo shot in the seventh (106 mph off the bat, 370 feet to left-center) and scored twice. He was also on base for the tying run back in the fifth, when he crossed home on a José Caballero single.

It just wasn't enough. Hoerner (2-for-4, the game-tying homer) and Crow-Armstrong (the go-ahead triple, two runs scored) were the real stars of this one, and they play for the other team. (Nobody said the box score has to be fair.)

Fried Deserved Better

Give Fried his due: 5.1 innings, one earned run, seven strikeouts, and a whole lot of quiet dominance against a Cubs lineup that had David Peterson matching him for most of the night. Peterson was nearly as good on the other side -- 6.1 innings, eight strikeouts, two runs allowed (only one earned), and Jones's homer was the bigger of the two.

Caballero chipped in a spark-plug game: 1-for-3 with a walk, an RBI single, and two stolen bases. José Caballero doing José Caballero things.

The pen did Fried no favors after that. Cruz took the loss, his fourth blown save of the year. Headrick allowed a hit to both batters he faced, though he escaped the inning with an assist from the defense (more on that in a second). Yovanny Cruz gave up an eighth-inning run to Michael Busch for good measure. On the Cubs side, Trent Thornton picked up the win despite issuing two walks in two-thirds of an inning, and Caleb Thielbar closed it out in the ninth for his third save.

The Challenge That Actually Mattered

Here's the part that got buried in the box score. Umpires originally called Suzuki safe at second when he tried to stretch that single past Trent Grisham's throw home. Boone challenged it, and the call flipped to out -- the third out of the inning. Without that review, Suzuki's standing on second with two outs and the Cubs are still hitting. With it, the bleeding stopped at 4-2 instead of worse. (Small mercies.)

The Yankees and Cubs play the rubber game Sunday with the series tied 1-1, and at 62-49, New York sits 3.5 games back of Tampa Bay in the East. Fried gave this team a chance to win. The pen needs to start giving him one back.