The New York Yankees made the wrong type of franchise history on Wednesday night as part of an 11-1 blowout loss against the Detroit Tigers (box score). For the first time in the Yankees' 123-year history, their bullpen surrendered nine or more runs in consecutive games. 

Five Yankees relievers combined to allow nine runs on 11 hits and no walks across three innings of work on Wednesday. That group included outfielder Austin Slater, who, amusingly, was the only Yankees reliever to record a scoreless appearance. Mark Leiter Jr., Camilo Doval, Tim Hill, and Luke Weaver were the guilty parties, with both Doval and Weaver yielding three runs apiece.

Leiter had also been involved in Tuesday's nightmare, when he and Fernando Cruz combined to allow nine runs without recording a single out. In both games, the Yankees received a quality start from their rotation, as Will Warren and Carlos Rodón each delivered six innings of two-run ball. Warren didn't factor into a decision, but Rodón was charged with a loss for his efforts.

How the Yankees can win the AL East title: Bombers face an uphill but not impossible climb against Blue Jays

Mike Axisa

Yankees relievers had a 4.19 ERA coming into the trade deadline. Executive Brian Cashman attempted to fortify the bullpen by obtaining three closers: David Bednar, the aforementioned Doval, and Jake Bird. Bednar has been excellent since the trade, but Doval has scuffled (6.59 ERA, 1.56 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 16 appearances) and Bird was demoted to Triple-A after three shaky outings. New York's 5.57 ERA since August 1 is the third worst in the majors.

If there's any solace to be found in New York's relief corps meltdown, it's that a bad two-game stretch doesn't necessarily hold greater predictive power. To wit, the last team to achieve this feat, having their bullpen shredded in consecutive contests, was the 2023 Texas Rangers. Those Rangers, of course, went on to win the World Series.

The Yankees, now 80-65 on the season, will wrap up their series versus the Tigers on Thursday night. New York will enter three games back of the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East, as well as a half game ahead of the Boston Red Sox. CBS Sports' Mike Axisa detailed how the Yankees can still prevail in the East on Wednesday.