While the New York Yankees are suddenly amid their worst stretch of a strong season, the Atlanta Braves are hopeful a hot streak is starting.
The Yankees will attempt to reverse some recent subpar play Friday night when they host the Braves in the opener of a three-game interleague series.
New York has been in sole possession of first place in the American League East since May 14 but since winning the first three games of its four-game set in Kansas City, the Yankees are 2-5 over their past seven games. New York has allowed 48 runs in this seven-game span and is coming off consecutive series losses for the first time this season.
The Yankees suffered their most lopsided loss of the season on Thursday, a 17-5 defeat to the Baltimore Orioles. New York got a short start from rookie Luis Gil and its relief corps allowed 10 runs, meaning another bullpen move could be on the horizon.
The best news in a blowout in which the Yankees committed three errors, allowed 19 hits and seven walks pertained to Aaron Judge. Judge hit his major league-leading 27th homer and drove in three, raising his total to a major league-best 67 after missing Wednesday’s game as a precaution due to getting hit on the left hand by a fastball Tuesday.
“They’re a good ballclub, we saw that last year,” Judge said of the Orioles. “They’ve got some great young players, they play hard, play fast. It’s fun competing against those guys. They bring it every single day. Even like today, they came out swinging early on.”
Atlanta heads to the Bronx 10 games over .500 for the third time this month. The Braves dropped five straight from June 7-12 but are 6-1 in their past seven games.
The Braves finished a three-game sweep of the visiting Detroit Tigers with a 7-0 win on Wednesday afternoon. Sean Murphy highlighted a four-hit showing by hitting two homers after entering the game with a .135 average.
Atlanta has scored 39 runs in its past seven games after getting outscored 25-11 in its losing streak.
“The offense has been clicking a little bit more,” Murphy said. “We’re starting to find a rhythm. It’s just one of those things where you hope it’s contagious and it builds momentum.”
New York left-hander Carlos Rodon (9-3, 3.28 ERA) will attempt to reach double-digit wins for the third time in his career on Friday, Rodon, who won 13 games with the White Sox in 2021 and 14 for the Giants the following season, is coming off one of his worst outings in 2024.
After winning seven straight starts, Rodon was tagged for five runs on seven hits in five innings during an 8-4 loss last Saturday to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Rodon is 1-0 with an 0.75 ERA in two career starts against Atlanta.
Chris Sale (9-3, 2.98) is seeking his 130th career victory and can reach double-digit victories for the first time since going 12-4 with a 2.11 ERA for the Boston Red Sox in 2018. Sale reached double-digit win totals in seven straight seasons from 2012 to 2018 but was a combined 17-18 over his final four seasons with the Red Sox.
Sale won seven straight starts from April 19 to May 26 but is 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA in his past three outings. He last pitched in a 7-3 win over Tampa Bay last Friday when he allowed two runs on five hits in seven innings.
The left-hander is 6-9 with a 3.12 ERA in 22 career appearances (19 starts) against the Yankees.
–Field Level Media
