THEY KEEP ON STREAKIN’ ON!
Yanks topple Braves for 10th win in row
YANKEES 5 BRAVES 1
ATLANTA — ho would not have played a significant role in an interleague game a month ago, homered, doubled and drove in three runs as the Bombers beat the Braves 5-1 at Truist Park
The Yankees won their 10th in a row, matching their 2020 season high from Sept. 9-19, and improved to a season-high 21 games above .500.
It was just the third time in baseball history and the first time in 120 years that teams riding winning streaks of at least nine games have played each other. The last time was on Sept. 7, 1901, when the Phillies (nine straight) beat the Pirates (10 straight) 4-1, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
The Yankees (73-52) last lost in the corn fields of Dyersville, Iowa, to the White Sox. It was the first loss for the Braves (68-57) since an Aug. 12 loss to the Reds.
“That’s what I like. I like winning. We like winning and winning is fun,” said Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez, whose two-run single in the eighth was the team’s only other offense besides Stanton. “And when the guys have an opportunity to be in the lineup and they’re contributing, it’s great. That’s what we like to do. We like to contribute whenever we have a chance, whenever we’re in the lineup.”
Jordan Montgomery went five innings holding the Braves to one run, just a Dansby Swanson home run in the bottom of the second. He walked four and struck out two to pick up his fifth win of the season.
Jonathan Loaisiga turned in his seventh appearance with at least two scoreless innings. Wandy Peralta pitched another and Aroldis Chapman pitched a perfect ninth in a non-save situation.
A month ago, the idea of Stanton contributing in this series — even in just the two at-bats on Monday night before being double-switched out — would have been unlikely.
Because of a history of leg injuries, the Yankees just stopped playing him in the outfield after the 2019 playoffs. He still missed over half the coronavirus-abbreviated, 60-game 2020 season with leg injuries, but after revamping his workouts and with the Yankees desperately needing some versatility in the designated hitter spot, the Yankees eased him back out there.
Monday night was the 11th start Stanton has made in the outfield this season.
“It definitely gives you some flexibility and adds to the versatility because you don’t have to be beholden to him being in that DH slot,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “So it does allow you a little bit of maneuverability, which has been nice.”
And it allowed him to have more than one at-bat in an interleague game like Monday night with no DH.
Unlike some feared, it has not affected his offense at all. Since taking the field for the first time on July 30, Stanton is hitting .315 with five home runs and 18 RBI.
Monday night was no exception. Stanton crushed his 21st home run of the season off Huascar Ynoa 387 feet at 119 miles an hour off the bat and onto the right-field concourse in the second inning. It was his 10th go-ahead home run of the season, tied with Aaron Judge for the most on the team.
“He’s a unicorn. He does things every night that are a little bit different than everyone else,” Boone said of Stanton’s homer.
In the sixth, with the game tied at 1-1, and runners on first and second, Standon ripped a line-drive double into the left-field corner to clear the bases.
With three RBI Monday night, Stanton has 64 on the season. He has reached base in 20 straight games, one shy of his career high from Aug. 4-25, 2018. In this current streak, Stanton is hitting .328 with 13 runs scored, four doubles, five homers and 18 RBI.
Stanton was double-switched out of the game after his double in the sixth to insert Loaisiga.
“It’s awesome. It’s like, who’s gonna do it each night? We’re not all relying on one guy. And we’re feeding off each other like that,” Stanton said of this run. “We just gotta keep pushing and keep this going.”