MINNEAPOLIS -- Luke Weaver stood before his locker dejected. The New York Yankees reliever could have picked any number of adjectives to describe his performance Monday night, giving up five earned runs while getting just one out in a 7-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.

What Weaver didn't do, however, was look at the two doubles, three walks and the single that he surrendered as a potential harbinger with the playoffs two weeks away despite generally shaky results as of late.

"It's about trying to flush this, get into a good mindset down the stretch and pitch in some big moments," he said. "Then be ready, hopefully, by the end of the season to do something great."

Going into Monday, Weaver had given up five earned runs over his last five outings (3 1/3 innings). He's given up at least one earned run in four of his last six appearances.

It's been an up and down season for Weaver, who pitched well before spending about three weeks on the injured list with a left hamstring strain. Since returning from the IL, however, he had registered a 4.91 ERA in 33 games. And that included a sterling August in which he had a 1.23 ERA in 13 games.

The Yankees will need Weaver to play a major role in the postseason. They sit five game back of the first-place Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East. They also held a 1 1/2-game lead over the Boston Red Sox for the top wild-card spot.

Manager Aaron Boone will need Weaver to get key outs against the middle of the opponents' lineup before handing the ball to David Bednar to finish games. Boone said he didn't see any reason to be particularly worried about Weaver come October.

"Ton of confidence in (Weaver) with the way he's throwing that he's going to get big outs," Boone said.

Starting pitcher Carlos Rodón, who gave up two runs over six innings, echoed Boone's sentiment.

"The stuff's there," Rodón said. "It's great stuff. Good fastball. Good life. Profile is good. Changeup is good. Cutter is good. Just going out there and competing and just kind of turning the page from tonight next time he goes out there and puts up a zero."

Weaver took over for Rodón to start the seventh and gave up a leadoff double down the right field line to Trevor Larnach in a 1-2 count. Then Brooks Lee got ahead, 1-0, before tearing a double into the right-field corner, scoring Larnach.

After Jhonny Perada followed with a sacrifice bunt to Weaver, moving Lee to third, Weaver walked Edouard Julien and Bryon Buxton back to back. Then Weaver got ahead of Austin Martin, 0-2, before Martin worked him back to a full count and laced a bases-clearing double down the left-field line off a fastball that was at the bottom of the strike zone but over the plate.

That ended the night for Weaver, who watched Martin steal second base on Camilo Doval before Luke Keaschall's single drove him in.

Weaver blamed his mechanics.

"Off the rip, though, the body just wasn't on time," he said. "It wasn't aligned with what I was trying to execute and do. Felt like I was fighting myself the whole time. Mentally, just trying to overcome it and have a good mindset and stay within myself. Those two things weren't coming together."

He added that he felt "slow" and like he was "lagging," but that he was healthy. He called it "inexcusable."

"We have to find a way to get it done and overcome that," he said.

The Yankees' bullpen has been its biggest question mark for a while. The team traded for three relievers at the deadline (Doval, Jake Bird, Bednar) yet its bullpen had posted an unsightly 5.32 ERA since Aug. 1 going into Monday -- the third-worst mark in the game over that span. Doval has been a major disappointment. Bird has been at Triple A since Aug. 5. Bednar has looked the part of a closer. Devin Williams has been better of late but shaky on the whole. Fernando Cruz has also been inconsistent.

It also didn't help that Weaver's letdown came on a day that Twins starting pitcher Simeon Woods-Richardson registered a career-high 11 strikeouts in six innings and the Yankees' generally looked flat after winning an intense weekend series in Boston and flying overnight to Minnesota. The team didn't arrive to its hotel until around 4 a.m. Monday with a 6:40 p.m. first pitch.

Weaver wasn't worried that his own trouble would last much longer.

"It's not out of the ordinary," he said. "It's all part of pitching. Sometimes you overcome it and do a great job, and some days you certainly don't, like today."

Weaver just can't carry days like Monday into October, or else the Yankees' World Series hopes may end up in the trash.

'Trash': Yankees need Luke Weaver to rebound after meltdown vs. Twins