Atlanta @ New York preview
Yankee Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jun 22, 2024 ) Atlanta 3, NY Yankees 8
The sight of Giancarlo Stanton grimacing as he rounded third base put a damper on the latest win for the New York Yankees.
On Sunday, the Yankees hope they will get some relatively good news on Stanton's tight left hamstring while also focusing on the finale of a three-game set with the visiting Atlanta Braves.
New York evened the series with an 8-3 victory on Saturday after being held to three hits in Friday's 8-1 setback. Stanton scored the Yankees' fourth run on a double by Gleyber Torres but was in discomfort on the way home on Saturday. He was later lifted from the contest.
The extent of Stanton's injury won't be fully known until he completes imaging, but the Yankees seem to think the slugger will miss at least a few games.
"Hopefully it's not too significant," New York manager Aaron Boone said. "He just came to me after that and said he needed to come out. So we'll see what we've got."
Stanton doubled on Saturday to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. He has hit .246 with 18 homers and 45 RBIs in 69 games this season, just one year after posting a career-worst .191 batting average.
Trent Grisham replaced Stanton and later homered for the Yankees. Aaron Judge hit his major-league-leading 28th home run of the season and second in three games since sitting out on Wednesday after a pitch hit his left hand.
"I really don't know what's going on (with Stanton) yet," Judge said. "Hopefully we get some news. He's such a force for this offense in the middle of the lineup."
The Braves are attempting to win a third straight series for the first time since May 7-15, when they won six of eight games against the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Chicago Cubs.
Atlanta had four hits on Saturday after getting 14 in the series opener and scoring 47 times in its previous eight games.
Marcell Ozuna hit a solo homer in the first inning and Travis d'Arnaud hit a two-run shot in the seventh on Saturday. Those blasts gave the Braves 18 homers in their past eight games.
"Now, we feel (being down) two or three runs, even four runs, isn't a big deal because our offense can explode in the blink of an eye," d'Arnaud said. "(Saturday), it just didn't happen."
After Marcus Stroman helped the Yankees avoid extensive bullpen use, left-hander Nestor Cortes (4-5, 3.36 ERA) hopes to win consecutive starts for the second time this season. Cortes won back-to-back outings on May 17 and May 22 and ended a four-start winless drought when he allowed five hits in six scoreless innings during Tuesday's 4-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
Cortes is facing the Braves for the first time and will oppose left-hander Max Fried (6-3, 3.11). In his most recent outing, Fried settled for a no-decision against the Detroit Tigers last Monday after giving up one run and four hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Fried is pitching in New York for the second time this season. On May 11, he pitched seven hitless innings against the Mets, and the Braves came within one out of a combined no-hitter.
Fried is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two career starts against the Yankees.
--Field Level Media