The Yankees' bullpen worked together to keep them going in the ALDS Game 2 loss

Game 2 of the Yankees' American League Division Series against the Royals was anything but ideal. Although they ended up winning Game 1 despite leaving many runners on base, they were unable to repeat that feat on Monday night, scoring just two runs, seven hits and five walks. Their only extra-base hit came on a home run by Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the ninth inning that gave the Yankees only a brief glimmer of hope. Sure, Royals starter Cole Ragans is generally very good, but he wasn't very sharp and neither was Kansas City's bullpen. The game definitely felt like the Yankees were beating themselves.

The only reason the Yankees had a shred of hope after Chisholm's home run was because the Bombers' bullpen kept them in the game, throwing a total of 5.1 scoreless innings after the departure of Carlos Rodón. For that, they collectively deserve our Players of the Game for the Yankees' 4-2 loss to the Royals.

Early on, it seemed like Rodón was destined to be the Yankees' standout player, as he performed brilliantly. After striking out the team in the first inning, he had as many as five Ks in the first three innings before the offense gave him a one-run lead early in the fourth inning.

However, he quickly became ill after that. A Salvador Perez home run tied the game, and Rodón then allowed three more hits and a wild pitch to the bottom of the Royals' lineup, giving Kansas City a 3-1 lead and forcing the Yankees to go to the bullpen early .

While I said the bullpen threw 5.1 scoreless innings, it should be noted that Ian Hamilton was on the mound when one of them scored, as he gave up an RBI single to Maikel Garcia immediately after replacing Rodón. However, since the Yankees starter put that runner on first, he gets credit for it. After Hamilton finally got out of the fourth, he came back for the fifth time and struck out the team, starting the bullpen's scoreless run in full force by striking out Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino and Perez, the man who started the rally against Rodón.

Hamilton's successor did not contribute much to the corporate project. He retired only one of his three batters after walking one while another batter made an error. Tim Hill came in and cleaned up the mess with a huge assist from debut first baseman Jon Berti. He was followed by Clay Holmes and Tommy Kanhle for one inning each, followed by Tim Mayza and Luke Weaver for the ninth inning. Weaver, in particular, looked great by continuing to hold Witt scoreless in the series

While the Royals put on a few runners over the course of the bullpen stint, they scored no additional runs, allowing the Yankees to still be within striking distance heading into the late inning. Of course they couldn't do anything with that, but hope was always there.

If you have to pick someone on offense who deserves some praise, your options are probably either Chisholm for the home run or Gleyber Torres. The Yankees second baseman did not record a hit, but he drew two walks, allowing him to be in position for Giancarlo Stanton's RBI infield hit in the third inning that gave the Yankees a brief lead. Another version of this article would have praised Berti's defense at first base, which was frankly remarkable considering he had never played a professional game there. However, for the bullpen as a whole, we give up.

After struggling for a significant portion of the season and then trade deadline moves backfiring, the bullpen was viewed as somewhat of a weak point for the Yankees heading into the postseason. At least in the first two games and especially Game 2, you can't really blame them for the team's predicament with the series tied 1-1.