With their bullpen battered by extensive recent use, the Yankees designated Dennis Santana for assignment on Sunday and recalled another right-handed reliever, Ron Marinaccio, from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Santana struggled in Saturday’s loss to the Dodgers, unable to get out of the top of the ninth, which forced the Yankees to go to infielder Oswaldo Cabrera for the final out.
After Saturday’s game, Aaron Boone blamed Santana’s ineffectiveness on overuse, having thrown 33 pitches on Wednesday, 12 in an appearance on Friday and 39 on Saturday.
The 28-year-old Santana has been inconsistent most of the season and especially ineffective of late, having allowed eight earned runs in 5 ⅓ innings over his last four appearances.
Marinaccio, 28, has pitched well this season, split between The Bronx and SWB.