The struggles of Veras and Marte underscore the fragility of the Yankees' bullpen behind Hall of Fame-bound closer Mariano Rivera and emerging setup man Brian Bruney. Those two right-handers have combined to allow just two hits while fashioning a 2.25 ERA with 13 strikeouts in eight innings, but the rest of the Yankees relievers -- including Nick Swisher, who mopped up with a scoreless frame in a 15-5 loss to the Rays on Monday -- have posted a 7.77 ERA (19 earned runs in 22 innings) while allowing 28 hits and 13 walks and striking out 18.

"We have to get everyone going in our bullpen," manager Joe Girardi said.

That the Yankees are having a tough time finding relievers to get the ball to the ever-reliable Rivera is nothing new. Earlier this decade, the Yankees tried to fill in behind Rivera by dipping into the free agent market, but the likes of Kyle Farnsworth, Steve Karsay, LaTroy Hawkins, Tom Gordon and Paul Quantrill provided little return on the investment.

So with the exception of Marte -- whom the Yankees acquired from the Pirates last July and re-signed to a three-year deal worth $12 million -- general manager Brian Cashman has gone in the other direction in putting together this year's setup corps. Bruney, Veras, Phil Coke, Edwar Ramirez, Jonathan Albaladejo and David Robertson are all under 30 and were all either drafted by the Yankees or obtained off the waiver wire or in minor trades.

So far, though, the different approach has yielded the same results.

INDIANS 10, YANKEES 2: Grady Sizemore hit the first grand slam at the new Yankee Stadium to highlight a nine-run seventh inning, and the Indians routed the Yankees in the home opener in the Bronx. Jose Veras began the seventh but didn't retire a batter and was charged with three earned runs before Damaso Marte absorbed the rest of the damage. CC Sabathia allowed just one run in 5 2/3 innings but labored against his former team. He gave up five hits and issued five walks while striking out four during a 122-pitch performance. Jorge Posada hit the first homer at the Stadium with a solo blast in the fifth, while the red-hot Robinson Cano went 3-for-4 with an RBI to raise his average to .421.