Stroman Comes Through; Judge & Yank Bombers Have His Back. NY 8 Atlanta 3

June 23, 2024 paperbacklou 2024 0

Marcus Stroman came through — pitching the Yanks to victory to break a 3-game losing streak, and losses in 4 of the last 5, the last 2 games of which the Yankee starter — Luis Gil and Carlos Rodon — had been pummeled.

Stroman put on a show — pitching a pitcher’s pitcher ballgame into the 7th, and Aaron Judge and the Yankee offense had his back in the 8-3 win on a hot, humid Saturday night in the Bronx, thunderstorms all day but none that delayed this game.

It didn’t start out great for Stroman, who allowed a solo homer in the top of the 1st to Marcell Ozuna. But Aaron Judge came right back with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 1st, and after that Stroman didn’t allow another run until the 7th, and the Yankee offense built the big 7-1 lead.

All of it coming on a national broadcast on FOX, with Yankee nemesis John Smoltz knocking the Yanks and Yankee Stadium dimensions all night as is his usual.

“Shout to the home crowd,” tweeted Marcus Stroman afterwards. “That energy gives me chills every time. Appreciate y’all. 9’s clutch as always. Rice with the glove work. Full team win. Shout to Booney for having my back. We love that. Process-oriented. On to the next one!”

More good news: Baltimore lost to Houston so the Yankees built their AL East lead back up to 1.5 games. NY is now 52-27. Atlanta drops to 42-32.

1. Judge Rips Homer to Plate Soto in 1st

After Gil and Rodon had been ROCKED in the last 2 games, and with 4 losses in the last 5 games and the 1st place lead becoming a precarious .5 game — many Yankee fans were playing the violins and looking for the lifeboats; all eyes were on Stroman to right the seemingly sinking ship.

All looked comforting at first as Stroman got the first 2 outs of the game and looked in command. But then Marcell Ozuna got him for a homer to right center and here we go again.

But in the bottom of the 1st, Juan Soto worked Charlie Morton for a 1-out walk, and Aaron Judge ripped a 95-MPH four-seam fastball 366 feet to opposite field right for a 2-1 Yankee lead and a Massive sigh of relief and at the same time jubilation amongst Yankee fans. Judge thought he didn’t get it all at first, and slammed his bat down as he ran to 1st.

2. The Stroman Show

And then Marcus Stroman continued to put on a show — a pitcher’s pitcher performance of using an assortment of pitches to work the zone and get easy fly outs or ground outs.

In the top of the 2nd, Stroman allowed a leadoff single to Austin Riley — but then got 3 straight fly outs to Aaron Judge in centerfield — the second one a sinking liner that Judge made a great play on coming in to catch just before hit hit ground.

Stroman allowed a 1-out walk in the 3rd but got Ozzie Albies to hit a 3-0 pitch into a  double play to end the inning when Ben Rice made a terrific play on the ball — snaring the liner down the line, stepping on 1st, and making a perfect throw to 2nd.

Stroman then pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 4th, 5th, and 6th — retiring 11 straight batters.

By the 7th, Stroman was leading 7-1. In the 7th, he allowed a leadoff walk — and Aaron Boone was thrown out by the ump for arguing ball-strike calls.

Stroman got the next 2 batters, but then allowed a 2-out, 2-run homer to Travis d’Arnaud to make it a 7-3 game, and was relieved.

His line: 6.2 innings, 3 hits, 3 runs, 6 K’s, 2 walks — he wins to go 7-3 3.15.

“Had a good mix; thought Wellsy was great behind the dish; thought the defense was amazing,” said Stroman afterwards. “Just pitching to my strengths; attacking the zone — I felt we had a good bearing between my sinker, cutter, mixing in my changeup — I felt like we were keeping them off balance.”

“I felt pretty in control from the start,” added Stroman. “Even after the homer I felt pretty settled. I knew I didn’t make the pitch I wanted to so I wasn’t necessarily mad about it, but felt pretty I felt settled all night; I felt calm. I had a lot of confidence in Wellsy behind the dish; I didn’t shake him one time all night; really just trying to execute my pitches.”

3. Yanks Keep Up Attack on Old Nemesis Morton

The Yankee batters kept up their attack on Charlie Morton, who can shut a team down when he is on.

In the 3rd, Oswaldo Cabrera led off with a single, Anthony Volpe walked, and Juan Soto singled to load the bases with nobody out.

Aaron Judge grounded into a double play for a run to make it 3-1 — and the Yanks were driving up Morton’s pitch count on the hot, humid evening.

4. Gleyber RBI Double But Giancarlo Pulls Muscle

Giancarlo Stanton led off the 4th with a double off Morton, and after Ben Rice lined out, Gleyber Torres doubled to left, scoring Stanton to make it a 4-1 Yankee lead.

Unfortunately, Stanton seemed to pull his hamstring slightly rounding 3rd. He left the game and will have imaging done.

5. Oswaldo RBI’s a Bummer for Atlanta

Ben Rice worked a 1-out walk off Morton in the 6th, and after Morton struck out Gleyber Torres for the 2nd out, he was relieved at 97 pitches.

Atlanta brought in 6’3 lefty Aaron Bummer to face lefty Austin Wells, who worked a walk bringing up switch hitter Oswaldo Cabrera with 2 out and 2 on. Cabrera got a Clutch 2-out single to right scoring Rice and Austin Wells — who seemed to break a speed record for catchers scoring from 1st on a single. NY 6 Atlanta 1.

Anthony Volpe doubled to right off Bummer, and Juan Soto walked to load the bases with still 2 outs. Aaron Judge worked a walk to force in a run — NY 7 Atlanta 1.

What a Bummer for Atlanta.

6. Grisham Bomb

After Stroman allowed the 2-run homer to d’Arnaud in the top of the 7th, Trent Grisham — in the game for Giancarlo Stanton — ripped an opposite field homer to left for an 8-3 Yankee lead.

7. Tonkin, Weaver, Bickford Close It

Michael Tonkin came in to relieve Stroman in the 7th, and got the final out on a strike out.

Luke Weaver pitched a shutout 8th, and Phil Bickford pitched his 2nd time for NY — and threw a shutout 9th for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401569616

 

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