ATLANTA — The Yankees wrapped up an abysmal road trip in fitting fashion on Wednesday, as the Braves completed a sweep with a 2-0 victory at Truist Park.
Atlanta, baseball’s best team, scored the only runs of the game in the second inning when Eddie Rosario crushed a two-run shot for his second home run of the series. The blast came after Marcell Ozuna doubled.
While Ozuna’s two-bagger was well-struck to right field at 102.1 miles per hour, the ball had a catch probability of 70%. Giancarlo Stanton, limited in his mobility but playing the field , could not come up with it.
Those were the only runs Randy Vásquez and the Yankees allowed against a stacked offense, but the rookie right-hander lasted just 3.1 innings. Vásquez walked three, including two in the fourth, and struck out three over 60 pitches before Michael King took his place on the mound.
King, whom the Yankees , struck out three and walked one while delivering 3.2 scoreless innings and 44 pitches before Keynan Middleton finished the game.
“He was aggressive. He pitched with confidence,” Aaron Boone said of Vásquez. “And then obviously Michael coming in and really being sharp and on top of things and handed it off to Keynan, who threw a nice, clean ending. That’s how you got to execute against an offense like that.”
While the Yankees’ pitching did better than one could ask for against a dangerous lineup, their offense stumbled yet again. This time, Charlie Morton did the stifling, as the veteran righty totaled four hits, one walk and 10 strikeouts over six scoreless innings.
Braves pitching, highlighted by Tuesday’s one-hitter, held the Yankees to just three runs in the unevenly matched series. All of those runs came in the first game of the series.
Boone has said all year long that the Yankees have the guys they need offensively. But they have proved him wrong time and again.
“Got to,” the manager said when asked if he still has faith in his hitters. “We have a quarter of the season left and we got to keep working to try and figure it out.
“It’s what we do. I’ve told you, I’m 50 years old. I’ve been in this game my whole life. It doesn’t always go the way you script it or hope, and you got to keep fighting. And that’s what we’ll continue to do.”
Boone went on to say that he still believes his team is fighting, even if the results may have some thinking otherwise.
“When you don’t hit and you have games where you don’t score any, it has that look of being flat,” he said. “That’s just the nature of it. I don’t think that’s the case. I think these guys have a lot of pride in what they do. And the game is still littered with examples of teams going on unlikely runs. I know we’ve put ourselves in a position to not give anyone that confidence, but we got to continue to work and fight and compete to do that.”
Boone specifically referenced recent Braves, Phillies and Nationals teams that went on “unlikely runs,” as well as the 1995 Yankees.
But Wednesday brought an end to a brutal, three-city road trip that saw the 2023 Yankees go 2-7 against , the Marlins and Atlanta. The Bombers are now 60-61 on the season, and they are 6.5 games out of a wild card spot.
They’re also at risk of enduring their first losing campaign since 1992.
“We’re excited to get back home, get past this road trip,” Aaron Judge said. “It didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but we got work to do.
“We’re just a couple streaks away from being right where we want to be.”
Before the Yankees can get there, they have to return to .500. They will try to do so when they resume play at home on Friday. They begin a three-game series with the Red Sox that night.
Boston is one of the teams leading the Yankees in the chase for the final wild card spot, making this weekend’s matchup a pivotal one for two teams that are short on time.
is expected to pitch in some capacity for the Yankees on Friday, while Brayan Bello will start for the Red Sox. Gerrit Cole will face Kutter Crawford on Saturday, while Clarke Schmidt will look to rebound from a rough start on Sunday.
The Red Sox had yet to decide on a Sunday starter at the time of publication.
Regardless of who the Yankees face over the weekend, they have 41 games left in their season. With multiple teams to jump in the standings, time is not on their side.
“I get it looks bleak. And I don’t want to even suggest that we’re in a position to even talk about that,” Boone said, referring to the unlikely runs he mentioned. “We got to fix our own house and get it going, but there’s a lot of season left, too, and we got to look at it that way.”
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