Yankees vs. Braves (Game 18)

ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS PLAY THE DAMN KID

YANKEES WIN 6 – 3

Quick little sweep. Last night the Yankees took down the Braves in the Bronx, completing the two-game set with both some good pitching and hitting. The absence of the oft-injured Aaron Judge was no big deal in this one, as a big night for Clint Frazier propelled the Yankees to six runs on 12 hits, where he picked up three of them.

Down 2-zip in the second already, the Bombers needed a spark. Clint’s provided just that in his first at-bat of the season, going back-to-back with Gary Sánchez.

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Kid needs to fucking play, man. Give him some AB’s for shit sake. I’m tired of seeing the Yankees disrespect a guaranteed 30-&-100 power bat every damn year. He can rake. Find a way to play him regularly. With Stanton down as well, the DH spot couldn’t be better for him. Get it done, Boone.

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The Yanks scored two more runs in the fourth and then their final two runs in the fifth, as the Braves’ pitching by committee strategy had no effect on the New York bats. Off two different arms, an RBI double by Aaron Hicks and an RBI single by Gleyber Torres put the score at 4-to-2 after five. It was then DJ LeMahieu who sliced an RBI single to right in the fifth, because of course he did, only to be followed by a Luke Voit single in the next AB for the Yanks’ sixth and final run.

Pitching was Masahiro Tanaka, and although he didn’t look filthy, he was certainly deserving of staying in the game for longer than Aaron Boone’s soft ass had him in for. Starting pitching is dead. It’s pathetic & sad. Tanaka surrendered an ugly seven baserunners, sure… but he did hold Atlanta to a modest two runs in four frames on 66 pitches. Given how often this bullpen has been used already, and will be used going forward, Tanaka could have at least gone one more to save some arms (and earn his first victory). But nah.. new age baseball.

Nonetheless, the pen got it done exceptionally well. Johnny Lasagna, Chad Green, Luis Avilán (this year’s Nestor), Adam Ottavino, Jonathan Holder, and Zack Britton tossed a combined five innings of one-run baseball, striking out five versus one walk. Britton earned his seventh save in as many opportunities, while Lasagna earned his second victory in as many decisions.

Some nice plays in the field last night: