That happy time was known as the regular season, and it looks more distant by the day.

The relievers who are supposed to get the ball to Rivera with a lead, or prevent opponents from increasing their margin, have become a growing concern because of their mounting failures.

In Wednesday's Game 1 of the World Series, a 6-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, the New York bullpen turned a 2-0 deficit in the eighth inning into a blowout.

In Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, the Yankees went ahead 6-4 with a six-run seventh, only to watch the bullpen surrender the edge in the bottom half, as the Los Angeles Angels responded with a three-spot.

No wonder Girardi turned to Rivera for a six-out save in the ALCS clincher, when New York took a 3-1 cushion into the eighth.

That didn't show much faith in eighth-inning man Phil Hughes or his bullpen mates, even if publicly Girardi continues to express his confidence in them.

"This bullpen that is constructed now has been really, really good for us all year, and at times you're going to have some hiccups," Girardi said. "But that doesn't mean that you stop believing in them."

Even so, Wednesday's debacle might have given him pause. Starter CC Sabathia had given up two runs in seven innings, on Chase Utley's home runs in the third and sixth, when Hughes, a converted starter in his first year of relief, opened the eighth by walking the two batters he faced.

Lefty Damaso Marte retired Utley and Ryan Howard, but David Robertson walked Jayson Werth and gave up a two-run single to Raul Ibanez. Brian Bruney and Phil Coke combined to yield two more runs the next inning, and the game was as good as over.

Hughes, who excelled as the eighth-inning man in the regular season (3.03 ERA), said he has been guilty of relying too much on scouting reports instead of his own stuff. He has a 9.64 ERA in seven postseason games.

"The biggest thing for me is just attacking the zone and not really worrying about the hitters' weaknesses but my strengths," Hughes said.

Hughes, 23, is one of five Yankees relievers with two full seasons or less of major league experience, and the youth might be showing. He barked at home plate umpire Gerry Davis as he left the field and from the dugout as well.

"I definitely regret it," Hughes said before Thursday's Game 2. "It's just kind of the emotions of the moment. I went back and looked at the pitches, and they weren't as close as I thought they were. So it falls on me."

A big weight falls on the Yankees relievers, and at this point they're struggling to carry it.

Enlarge By H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY Yankees' Phil Hughes has struggled in relief recently. He has a 9.64 ERA in seven postseason games.