YANKS TURN ON POWER!
Voit, Judge homer as Bombers top Braves to begin homestand
YANKEES 9
BRAVES 6
Maybe it was the day off on Monday. Maybe it was just the Braves' on-going struggles with their pitching. Or maybe it was the return to the Bronx. Whatever it was, the Yankees were recharged Tuesday night.
Behind Aaron Judge and Luke Voit both homered and Mike Ford doubled twice to drive in three runs to beat the Braves 9-6 at the Stadium.
The Yan- kees (11-6) won for just the third time in their last eight games and remained undefeated in the Bronx over five games. The Braves (11-8) continued to struggle to find pitching.
Coming off a road trip where they went 2-5 and were bullied by the Rays, going 1-3 at Tropicana Field, the Yankees needed to reset their offense particularly after the week- end. In the four games against the Rays, the Yankees hit three homers and slashed .235/.333/.370.
“I think we're gonna go through periods in a season just like any other year where it might not be clicking for two three days,” Ford said. “In a shortened season, it's a little heightened and you want to get going even quicker but up till those three days we were doing great and got back on it today, so I'm not too worried about it. And I don't think you guys guys are either.”
But there is something about the ballpark in the Bronx — and no, it's not just the short porch in right field — that seems to recharge the Bombers. In five games at Yankee Stadium this season, the second fewest home games in the majors, the Yankees have crushed 13 homers.
“I mean for us I think just being home. It's, you know you always have homefield advantage regardless of ... it's great when you got 40,000 people screaming for you all game. That's awesome, but just being able to be in your own bed in a place where you're comfortable, your routine is much easier, especially this year,” Ford said. “When we come, we know exactly where our testing is gonna be, our protocols are, and just kind of being in the comfort of our own clubhouse instead of shifting in and out.”
Judge's fifth-inning, leadoff homer was a laser that hit hard off the Toyota sign that hangs over the Yankees bullpen in right-center field. Off Braves righthander Touki Toussaint, it was Judge's shot put him back in the lead in the majors, breaking a tie with the Padres Fernando Tatis, Jr. In five games at Yankee Stadium this season, Judge has five homers.
“He's rakes,” Voit said. “He hit that ball.113 (miles per hour). I am just surprised he didn't put a hole in that sign out in right center. The kid's a stud and it's fun and I'm glad he's finally healthy again and he gets to do what he does. Because there's a reason why it's one of the faces of baseball”
It was his major league leading ninth of the season and the Bombers' second of the night.
Voit crushed a three-run homer in the first inning. It was his fifth homer of the season and his 11th RBIs.
That made Jordan Montgomery's night a lot easier. He allowed three runs on four hits. He walked one and struck out four in six innings work. That was just the fourth time a Yankees starter has gone six innings or more this season.
“Especially when they put up eight (runs),” Montgomery said. “You really attack the hitters, pitch to contact and try to get as deep in the game as you can. So I did my best and kind of just kept going after them.”
After having their schedule rerouted last month by the coronavirus, meaning that they had played just four home games the first two weeks of the season, the Yankees were happy to be home. Even without their fans, there is some advantage.
“First they're a really good offense but there's no doubt that they feel comfortable playing here and in our home building that they're very familiar with,” Boone said. “And it was really good to see
those guys kind of break out tonight.”
JUDGE GETS SOME REST
When Tauchman came out to the on-deck circle in the bottom of the sixth it raised some red flags. Tauchman was pinch hitting for Judge, who after that half inning disappeared into the clubhouse.
Aaron Boone said it was just his decision to remove him to give the Yankees' slugger some more rest after playing four games in three days at Tropicana Field. The Yankees did have a five-run lead at that point, which almost slipped away, but they were coming off a scheduled day off.
“Coming off for four days on the turf and with a little bit of leverage there, just trying to be smart again with these guys,” the Yankees manager explained. “Where Judge hasn't really had to that day down. I gave him the DH day, obviously, and I just just want to make sure we're being smart with everyone.”
Boone said that Judge did not return to the dugout because he was getting his normal treatment.
Judge missed all of the first spring training with a neck/shoulder issue which was eventually diagnosed as a fractured top, right rib. He missed a few days in the rebooted spring training with a stiff neck. Judge missed nearly two weeks last season with a strained oblique and in 2018 he missed most of the second half of the season with a fractured right wrist.