The Yankees have been one of the hottest teams in baseball recently. You could make an argument that they were the hottest. If they weren’t number one, they were probably number two behind the Atlanta Braves, who they coincidently faced in a two-game set starting on Monday night.
Like the Yankees, the Braves came into this game also on a nine-game win streak, and had only lost three times in all of August. While the opening game was even for a while, it turned out like a lot have in the Yankees’ recent run. The offense did enough and the bullpen came through to seal a win. Thanks to a three-RBI game from Giancarlo Stanton, a solid start from Jordan Montgomery, and a lights-out effort from the relief corps, the Yankees extended their win streak to 10 with a 5-1 victory over the Braves.
Stanton started off his day and opened the scoring by reminding us just how strong he is. Despite producing a swing that looked like this, he hit a ball 387 feet for a solo shot to give the Yankees the lead in the second inning.
However, the lead wouldn’t last that long. Dansby Swanson led off the bottom half of the second and hit a solo homer of his own, evening the score.
After that, the game settled into a bit of a pitcher’s duel. Huascar Ynoa mostly mowed through the Yankees’ lineup after Stanton’s homer. Montgomery wasn’t the sharpest he’s been, issuing four walks, but did a good job limiting hits and keeping Atlanta off the board.
The deadlock was finally broken in the sixth, and it was thanks to Stanton again. He stepped to the plate with two on: DJ LeMahieu, who got hit by a pitch, and Joey Gallo, who walked. Stanton then ripped a double to left field. Not only did LeMahieu score, but the speed at which it hit the wall caused a misplay, allowing Gallo to come home as well.
Montgomery had been slightly flirting with danger all day, and after the Yankees took the lead, his day came to an end and Jonathan Loaisiga came in. Montgomery allowed one run on two hits and four walks in five innings, striking out two.
After two good innings from Loaisiga, the Yankees got some insurance runs in the eighth. The first two hitters of the inning went down in order before Aaron Judge kept the inning alive with a single. Gallo and a pinch-hitting Luke Voit then both drew walks to load the bases and bring Gary Sánchez up to bat. The Yankees’ catcher squeezed a single through the infield to score two more runs.
In the bottom of the eighth, Wandy Peralta worked around two hits, thanks to a timely double play and a big strikeout of Swanson. It was then turned over to Aroldis Chapman for the ninth. Chapman rolled through a 1-2-3 inning to seal the game and the win.
Double-digit win streaks do not come around all that often. The Yankees have played some good baseball, gotten some lucky breaks, but most importantly, they’ve made it count.
