ATLANTA – Aaron Boone likes answering questions about which relievers he might have available before a given game almost as much as he enjoys questions about slumping players.
But before Sunday’s game against Atlanta, even Boone allowed his bullpen was “a little short down there today.”
That was the result of using Ian Hamilton an opener in Friday night’s loss – and the three relievers that followed – and needing five relievers after Will Warren’s shortened outing in Saturday night’s come-from-behind victory.
In short, the Yankees were just a notch below desperate for Marcus Stroman to give a quality outing with some length on Sunday.
The veteran more than delivered.
Throwing six stellar innings in what was the best start of his season, Stroman, backed by Aaron Judge’s 36th home run and RBI hits from Paul Goldschmidt and Jazz Chisholm Jr., helped lead the Yankees to a 4-2 victory over Atlanta that gave them a series win in front of 40,125 at Truist Park.
The Yankees (55-44) leave town feeling relatively good about themselves as they head to Toronto for a three-game series against the AL East-leading Blue Jays, who have won 10 straight at home, that starts Monday night.
Stroman, who missed two-plus months in the first half with left knee inflammation, allowed one run and five hits in what was just his seventh start of the season. Stroman did not walk a batter and struck out four.
Hamilton, who was not good in the opener role Friday, pitched a 1-2-3 seventh on Sunday and Tim Hill threw a scoreless eighth. Devin Williams, who allowed a run in a non-save situation in Saturday’s 12-9 victory, allowed a leadoff homer to Ronald Acuna Jr. in the ninth but retired the next three hitters to record his 14th save in 15 chances with a scoreless ninth.
The Yankees, who quickly fell behind in each of the first two games here, gave Stroman the lead before he delivered a pitch.
After Jasson Dominguez lined out against righthander Grant Holmes, Judge took a 2-and-1, 93-mph cutter to right to make it 1-0. Cody Bellinger flied out but Stanton improved to 9 for his last 24 (.375) with a sharp ground single to right and Chisholm laid a well-placed bunt to the right of the pitcher’s mound for a single. Goldschmidt continued his resurgent July after a miserable June, lining an RBI single to center to make it 2-0 and move to 16-for-46 (.348) this month.
Stroman allowed a two-out single to Acuna in a 13-pitch bottom half but had no other issues in the inning.
He faced his first jam in the third when Michael Harris II, who homered on Saturday, led off with a single and Nick Allen bunted for a single. But third baseman Jorbit Vivas, in the headlines for all the wrong reasons Friday night because of a base running gaffe, made a diving, body-laid-out-in-full catch in foul ground of a bunt attempt by leadoff man Jurickson Profar. Stroman took care of the rest, snaring Matt Olson’s comebacker and starting an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play.
The Yankees added on in the sixth. Giancarlo Stanton led off with his third single of the day, a 112.8 mph missile to left and Goldschmidt and Ben Rice walked back-to-back to load the bases. After Anthony Volpe hit into a 5-2 force, Vivas got hit on his right knee by a pitch, forcing in Goldschmidt to make it 3-0.
Atlanta got one back in the bottom half when Olson tattooed a 2-and-2, 88-mph cutter 442 feet to right, his 18th homer making it 3-1.
The Yankees came right back in the top of the seventh against righthander Dane Dunning. Judge led off with a walk and, with two outs, Chisholm sent one into the gap in left-center for an RBI double that made it 4-1.
Erik Boland started in Newsday’s sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.