The Yankees spent Saturday night leaning on a bullpen plan that looks a lot different now than it did a few weeks ago. With Max Fried limited in his return from a left elbow bone bruise, Aaron Boone had to piece together 5 1/3 innings from six relievers, and one familiar name kept showing up in the biggest spots.
New York beat the Boston Red Sox 9-2 at Yankee Stadium to split the doubleheader after a 6-0 loss in the opener. The win pushed the Yankees to 77-59, three games clear of Boston for the top American League wild card and 4 1/2 behind Tampa Bay in the AL East.
The night itself didn’t turn until the eighth, when New York finally blew the game open with five runs. Ben Rice drove in three of them, including a two-run single in that inning, and Luis García Jr. had three hits.
Brayan Bello took the loss after giving up four runs in 4 1/3 innings. But the more telling moments came before the scoreboard really tilted.
Boone’s most important bullpen call came in the seventh, and it echoed what happened three days earlier in Houston. With the score tied 3-3 and the bases loaded after a George Lombard Jr. error extended the inning, Boone went to the same veteran right-hander to stop the bleeding.
He got out of it, and the Yankees answered with four runs in the bottom half. That kind of inning can swing a wild-card race, and it’s also where a bullpen hierarchy gets redrawn.
Paul Blackburn is no longer just eating innings for a taxed staff. He’s becoming one of Boone’s most trusted emergency weapons.
On Saturday, Blackburn stranded two Boston runners in the sixth, then threw a scoreless seventh with two strikeouts to earn the win and improve to 7-2 with a 1.64 ERA. The day before, he delivered 1 2/3 scoreless innings in New York’s 1-0 win over Boston.
On Aug. 23, he worked two perfect innings against Toronto. The Houston escape sat right in between those outings.
The results have piled up fast. Blackburn hasn’t allowed an earned run since July 29, a stretch of 15 appearances and 18 innings.
During that run, he has 18 strikeouts, eight walks and a 2.43 FIP. Since June 1, he has allowed just five earned runs with a 3.56 FIP.
There’s been almost no damage once he enters with traffic, either. Since June, only one runner already on base at the start of one of Blackburn’s relief outings has scored, and that was the automatic runner against Atlanta on Aug. 9.
The broader sample is even more striking. Over his last 30 appearances, Blackburn has allowed three earned runs in 41 innings for a 0.66 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP.
Over his last 15 games, he has 18 scoreless innings with a 1.00 WHIP. Over his last seven, he has thrown 8 2/3 scoreless innings with a 0.92 WHIP.
For the season, Blackburn has appeared in 53 games, made two starts, thrown 76 2/3 innings, struck out 62 and posted a 1.03 WHIP. His career ERA has dropped from 4.97 entering 2026 to 4.50.
His pitch mix has also given the Yankees another way to navigate the middle innings. Blackburn is leaning on a sinker that averages about 94 mph, along with a changeup, cutter and curveball.
The Yankees’ investment in him was small. The Mets designated Blackburn for assignment on Aug. 16, 2025, after a 6.85 ERA, then released him three days later.
New York signed him on Aug. 21.
He posted a 5.28 ERA in eight relief appearances, but only two earned runs over his final 12 innings.
At the time, Boone’s explanation for the move was straightforward. “Our ‘pen right now is not filled with a lot of guys that give us a lot of length,” Boone said at the time.
That’s what made Blackburn appealing then, and it’s what has made him more valuable now. The Yankees brought him back on a one-year, $2 million deal with up to $500,000 in innings incentives, and at 76 2/3 innings he is 3 1/3 away from the first $100,000 bonus.
This is not exactly how the role was drawn up. Blackburn entered the season as depth. Now he’s being used like a fireman, dropping into games when they start to wobble and handing Boone a way to keep the score right where it is.
He also has a playoff track record in pinstripes already. Blackburn made the Yankees’ 2025 postseason roster, then allowed four runs in 1 1/3 innings against Toronto in Game 1 of the AL Division Series.
A year later, the path looks much different. David Bednar is still the closer, but Blackburn’s recent work shows Boone doesn’t need a clean inning to trust him. That’s the kind of job that can matter in October, especially when innings disappear and every out gets expensive.
The Yankees finish the regular-season series against Boston on Sunday with the head-to-head tied 6-6 and the tiebreaker on the line. Will Warren is scheduled to start against left-hander Ranger Suárez.
Blackburn began the year as insurance. In September, he looks a lot more like a lifeline.
In Other News...
Yankees Suddenly Have A George Lombard Jr. Concern They Feared
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Aaron Boone said the injury was being monitored as the game went on, and for a young player trying to carve out a role, any knee concern can quickly become the kind of thing a team would rather avoid. The Yankees have been encouraged enough by Lombard to keep watching closely, but the next update will matter, because this is the sort of setback that can change the conversation around a rookie in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
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Robert brings the kind of glove that would fit the spot, along with a right-handed bat that could make a platoon arrangement with Grisham more workable. The appeal is obvious, even if the durability questions around Robert are part of the equation, and the Yankees also have the longer view in mind with Spencer Jones as a possible platoon fit down the line in 2027. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees May Be Near A Change Behind Austin Wells
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Austin Wells has the everyday job, but the conversation around what comes behind him is clearly not settled. Snchez has been part of that mix, yet the team also has other internal options to weigh, including Mitch Garver and J.C. Escarra, if it decides the current arrangement is not sturdy enough. For a club trying to keep every edge it can in a tight season, the backup catcher role is starting to look less like a depth spot and more like one that could shift before long. [Read more 🡒]