June 10 Sider..."Yankees' bullpen picks up assist"

By Caleb Breakey/MLB.com


NEW YORK -- The unsung heroes of the Yankees' 13-6 pounding of the Pirates on Sunday afternoon were the group of men who almost never see their offense up close.

It's that bunch sitting just beyond the left-center-field fence, an assembly that includes Sean Henn, Luis Vizcaino, Scott Proctor and Mike Myers -- all of the relievers who helped shut out Pittsburgh for 5 1/3 innings.

The foursome's effort could easily be overlooked, however, as Alex Rodriguez, Bobby Abreu and the rest of the Yankees' offense came alive with three runs in the fourth and five more before the game ended.

Proctor, who contributed two strikeouts to the bullpen's five-strikeout performance, said that after the offense gave the bullpen a lead, the relievers kept the Yankees afloat by holding the Pirates at bay.

"The bullpen, we've always had great arms down there," Proctor said. "We've struggled at times like everybody else has, but we all have confidence in one another, we pull for one another and we feed off one another. We just pick each other up when we have to."

The biggest test came with Henn pitching in the fifth inning.

Pirates second baseman Freddy Sanchez singled to lead off the inning, and the next batter walked before first baseman Adam LaRoche flied out to left field. Henn then issued another walk, loading the bases for catcher Ryan Doumit.

But the left-hander struck out Doumit on three pitches and retired shortstop Jose Castillo for the final out.

"That was a big inning for him," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "When we sent him back down a few weeks ago, it was based on the fact that he needed to get more aggressive, and I thought with the bases loaded that he showed his aggressiveness there, and it really paid off for us."

"That was a big inning. We got the lead, and it was a situation of, 'Lets see if he can get out of this inning,' and he certainly did. He did real well."

Meanwhile, starter Tyler Clippard didn't fare well in his fifth Major League start, giving up six hits and six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings.

Even with Clippard's poor outing, however, Torre said that the young right-hander is still locked into the Yankees' rotation.

"There are going to be times where we go through little blips," Proctor said. "But if we learn from them, then it's an advantage."