ALL STAR WEEK OVER, YANKS BACK TO WORK

With the All Star week festivities complete it’s time to get back into the race for the AL East.

The Yankees had a 3 game series over the weekend against the Atlanta Braves.

Friday night the Yankees used their bullpen from the start with Ian Hamilton kicking it off. He gave up 3 runs in one inning. Rico Garcia made his Yankees debut and pitched the next 2 2/3 innings and gave up another 3 runs. Scott Effross pitched 1 1/3 innings and gave up 1 run. JT Brubaker finished out the game with 3 shutout innings and 4 strikeouts. Spencer Strider got the start for the Braves. He pitched six shutout innings with 8 strikeouts and only allowed 3 hits. The Yankees didn’t score any runs until the seventh inning. Giancarlo Stanton hit a RBI double and Cody Bellinger hit a RBI single. The Braves won 7-3.

Saturday night Will Warren had a rocky start allowing 5 runs in 3 2/3 innings but in the end it turned out to be a great game to watch. Down 7-2 after 5 innings the Yankees got some life in the sixth inning by scoring 4 runs after loading the bases with no outs. The Braves scored a run the next inning to make the lead 2 but Cody Bellinger hit a home run to cut the lead to 1 again. Anthony Volpe tied the game with a solo home run in the eighth inning, his second home run of the game. With the game on the line, in the top of the ninth, Paul Goldschmidt hit a leadoff double, Aaron Judge was intentionally walked and Giancarlo Stanton walked. With the bases loaded and 2 outs, Trent Grisham hit a grand slam and the Yankees won 12-8. Luke Weaver earned the win with 1 2/3 scoreless innings after getting Jonathan Loaisiga out of a bases loaded jam.

Sunday afternoon Marcus Stroman got his fourth start since returning from injury. He pitched a solid six innings and only allowed one run to earn the win. The Yankees took the lead early with Aaron Judge hitting his 36th home run in the first inning and Paul Goldschmidt hitting a RBI single. The Yankees scored another run in the sixth inning after Giancarlo Stanton hit a single, Goldschmidt and Ben Rice walked and Jorbit Vivas was hit by a pitch. The Braves didn’t score a run until Matt Olson’s home run in the sixth inning. Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a RBI double in the seventh inning to add another run. Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a home run in the ninth inning but it was a little too late and not enough. The Yankees won 4-2.

Aaron Judge is now tied with Alex Rodriguez in sixth place for most home runs by a Yankee.

The Yankees are now within 3 wins of the Toronto Blue Jays as they head into a 3 game series against them on Monday. After that they head back to New York for a 3 game series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

In other Yankees news……Over the last few weeks, two of the Yankees’ top prospects, Spencer Jones and Rafael Flores were moved from the Somerset Patriots to the Triple A team in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Spencer Jones is thriving with 10 home runs in 16 at bats. Flores just moved up a few days ago so we will have to wait to see how he does. I had the pleasure of meeting Flores this past week. He was super friendly and great with Yankees fans. It will be exciting to see what these two guys can do and where they will end up next.

Luis Gil pitched another rehab start with the Somerset Patriots on Friday. He allowed 2 runs in 3 1/3 innings and struck out 7. Also making a rehab assignment with the Patriots is Yerry De Los Santos. Gil is expected to start in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday and if all goes well he rejoin the Yankees shortly thereafter. De Los Santos also may make a return before the end of the month.