Yankees bullpen rebounds in big way after rough first game following deadline

Every game after a trade deadline in which the Yankees did not add to their bullpen (and in fact subtracted) can feel like a referendum on Brian Cashman’s Aug.3 decision-making.After Monday’s loss, when Angel Chivilli imploded, Cashman could have been torched.

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.A night later, Cashman could have felt justified.Fernando Cruz, Brent Headrick and David Bednar were excellent in combining for three scoreless innings in relief of Ryan Weathers to preserve a 2-0 victory over the Cardinals.Headrick and Bednar did well to escape inherited danger.

In the seventh, Headrick entered and induced a ground out from Nathan Church to strand a runner on third, before he passed a jam on to Bednar in the eighth, who struck out Nelson Velázquez on three pitches with the bases loaded before completing the club’s 12th shutout of the year.“He’s been great,” manager Aaron Boone said of Bednar, who pitched a clean ninth and has not allowed a run in 24 of his past 25 appearances.“It’s been a couple months now where it’s been really lockdown by him.”Their trade deadline inaction, when the only Yankees bullpen moves were shipping out Camilo Doval and Yovanny Cruz, will place additional pressure on the bullpen and its expected additions.One of those possible additions, Clarke Schmidt, was expected to see a doctor Tuesday night after a shortened live batting practice earlier in the day, though the Yankees were not expressing much concern.Schmidt, building up from 2025 Tommy John surgery and facing hitters again in what might have been a final step before a rehab assignment, felt some cramping in his forearm, which cut short his afternoon.Expected to throw three “innings,” Schmidt settled for two.“Hopefully it’s not much, but enough for him to say, ‘Let’s not do the third up,’” Boone said.

“We’ll see what that looks li...