New York @ Atlanta preview
Truist Park
Last Meeting ( Apr 21, 2021 ) Atlanta 4, NY Yankees 1
The New York Yankees and host Atlanta Braves, the two hottest teams in the majors, will put their nine-game winning streaks on the line Monday when they open a two-game interleague series.
The Yankees have put together their longest winning streak since winning 10 in a row in September 2020. New York has won 10 of its last 11 games and is 31-11 record since winning the second game of a doubleheader on July 4.
New York's schedule game against Minnesota was rained out on Sunday, ending its homestand at 7-0.
Atlanta defeated Baltimore 3-1 on Sunday to complete a 9-0 road trip. The Braves swept consecutive three-game sets against Washington, Miami and Baltimore and had their first undefeated three-stop road trip since 1992.
"It's hard to do that, regardless of who you're playing," Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. "Credit the players for keeping that consistency and approach to make that happen. Seemed like we've been on the road forever."
The Braves have won nine of 10 games and 16 of 18 games. When the stretch began, the Braves were in third place, four games out of first. Now they're leading second-place Philadelphia by five games in the NL East.
The pitching matchup for the first game features Atlanta's Huascar Ynoa (4-2, 2.70) against New York southpaw Jordan Montgomery (4-5, 3.77).
Ynoa looked good in his return from the injured list on Aug. 17. The right-hander allowed only three hits in 5 1/3 scoreless innings as the Braves beat the Marlins 2-0. Ynoa missed 81 games with a broken hand he sustained after angrily punching the dugout bench in Milwaukee on May 16.
"I was a little anxious because I wanted to throw well, obviously," Ynoa said. "I feel like the result was good. I was happy with it. Anything you can do to help the team win, that's all we're trying to do."
Ynoa will be making his 11th appearance, all but one of those as a starter, and has allowed two or fewer earned runs in seven of the first nine. He has three starts with at least five scoreless innings. Ynoa's only appearance against the Yankees came last season, when he was tagged for two runs on four hits and three walks in one inning.
Montgomery did not receive a decision in his last start, a 5-3 win over Boston on Aug. 17. He allowed three runs on five hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings in the first game of a doubleheader.He struck out six.
Montgomery is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in one career start against the Braves, which came last season.
New York's Giancarlo Stanton has reached base in a season-high 19 straight games, batting .313 with four homers and 15 RBIs during that streak. Aaron Judge is hitting .308 with five homers and 14 RBIs over the last 15 games.
"We're just having great at-bats, top to bottom," Stanton said. "The biggest factor has been wearing down the opposing pitcher. If we've got a lot of guys not chasing and forcing them to come into the zone, try to be more precise, they're just going to make more mistakes. I think that's what we've been doing."
The Braves and Yankees split four games in 2020, each going 2-0 on its home field.
--Field Level Media