Despite playing several tense and close games recently, the New York Yankees are winning at a decent rate.
The Yankees will attempt to sweep a home series for the first time in over three months when they host the Atlanta Braves in the finale of a three-game series on Sunday afternoon.
New York is 16-9 in its 25 games since July 9. Over that span, the Yankees are 13-5 in games decided by two runs or fewer, a streak that has carried over into this series with a pair of one-run wins over Atlanta.
Overall, New York is 33-24 in games decided by two runs or fewer and is in position to potentially sweep a series at home for the first time since a four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles on May 1-4.
Spencer Jones drove in two runs and scored another to account for New York’s first three runs in Saturday’s 5-4 win. Jones has eight RBIs in his past 12 games and delivered his first career triple on Saturday to score recently promoted George Lombard Jr.
Lombard is also off to a strong start after hitting his second career homer and drawing a crucial walk to set up Jones’ RBI triple. Lombard is 5-for-13 in four games since joining the Yankees on Tuesday.
“He looks great. He really does,” manager Aaron Boone said of Lombard. “We’re five days into him being here. We knew we were calling up a good player and confident in his ability on both sides of the ball, and I feel like day in, day out, he’s done a great job.”
The Braves are attempting to avoid losing three straight after outscoring opponents 43-17 during an eight-game winning streak that ended on Friday. Atlanta has not dropped three straight since July 5-7 and has not been swept since June 22-24 at San Diego.
The Braves are 5-for-16 with runners in scoring position in the series. Atlanta also has struck out 21 times while drawing three walks in the first two games.
Ronald Acuna Jr. homered in the eighth inning Saturday and has five homers in his past nine games after he had just seven in his first 56 games of the season.
He is 9-for-30 in seven August games after going 2-for-18 in his first five games back from his second stint on the injured list this season due to a hamstring injury.
Despite the ups and downs of late, Braves manager Walt Weiss hasn’t been worried about how his team manages those results.
“I never have to worry about the mentality of our guys,” Weiss said. “They compete well every day. We’ve been through a lot. Every team goes through a lot. In a major league season, you’re going to deal with a lot and we’ve certainly dealt with our fare share, but our guys are always ready for any challenge.”
New York starting pitchers have allowed one run or fewer in 11 of the past 16 games. The Yankees will hand the ball to right-hander Cam Schlittler (10-6, 2.26 ERA) on Sunday for his first career start against Atlanta.
Schlittler last pitched in Monday’s 13-7 home loss to the St. Louis Cardinals when he allowed four runs on four hits and issued a career-high-tying five walks over three innings in the second-shortest start of his career.
Grant Holmes (7-4, 3.67), who is 3-0 with a 2.93 ERA in his last six starts, gets the ball for Atlanta. The right-hander has a pair of scoreless starts in that span, including in Tuesday’s 4-2 win over the visiting Miami Marlins when he allowed five hits over six-plus innings.
Holmes is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in a pair of appearances (one start) against the Yankees.
–Field Level Media
