The Yankees won for the second time in their last seven games in Saturday night’s 8-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
Here are the takeaways…
–Aaron Judge had himself another day at the plate, going 1-for-4 with a walk and three RBI, and got New York going in the first inning with a two-run homer that gave the Yanks the lead after the Braves scored a run in the top half of the inning.
The home run was Judge’s 28th of the season, which leads the majors and it was also his 11th home run coming in the first inning. The outfielder has loved hitting in the opening frame this season with an OPS over 1.500 — absolutely ridiculous. He also has a MLB-leading 70 RBI this year and is on pace to break his career high in that category.
–Marcus Stroman was on the mound for New York and after two straight bad starts by Luis Gil and Carlos Rodon, the Yankees needed their right-hander to come through and, at the very least, eat some innings for a beleaguered and taxed bullpen.
Stroman did more than just eat innings, the 33-year-old was downright dominant for most of the night, pitching 6.2 innings. His only blemishes came on two uncharacteristic home runs that sandwiched his outing — one in the first by Marcell Ozuna and one in the seventh by Travis d’Arnaud.
Prior to those home runs (both hit the opposite way to right field), Stroman, a groundball specialist, had allowed 10 home runs in 15 starts. Regardless, the righty secured his seventh win of the year in what has been a successful first season in the Bronx.
–Giancarlo Stanton left the game in the sixth inning with hamstring tightness after running the bases and scoring in the fourth. He finished 1-for-2 with a double.
-The role players did their part in this one to help out Judge. No. 9 hitter Oswaldo Cabrera went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored while Gleyber Torres finished 1-for-4 with an RBI. Trent Grisham, in for the injured Stanton, continued his odd first season in pinstripes by hitting his fourth home run this year for just his seventh hit.
The Yankees banged out nine hits and walked eight times — three by Juan Soto — to have baserunners on the entire game, disrupting Atlanta starter Charlie Morton and the Braves bullpen.
-Manager Aaron Boone was ejected in the seventh inning for arguing balls and strikes by home plate umpire Derek Thomas who was consistently not calling the high strike for both teams.
Game MVP: Marcus Stroman
Needing length from their starter after back-to-back clunkers, Stroman was able to pitch 6.2 effective innings against Atlanta and secure the Yanks just their second win in their last seven games.
Highlights
What’s next
The Yankees and Braves finish out their three-game series on Sunday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 1:35 p.m.
LHP Nestor Cortes (4-5, 3.36 ERA) takes on fellow southpaw LHP Max Fried (6-3, 3.11 ERA).