In case the sweltering heat wasn’t enough, Max Fried and the Braves suffocated the Yankees’ bats on Sunday afternoon.
Mustering only one inning in which they put multiple men on base — with a costly out on the bases limiting the rally — the Yankees’ shorthanded lineup could not break through against Fried and dropped another rubber game with a 3-1 loss in front of a sellout crowd of 46,683 in The Bronx.
After losing only three of their first 22 series of the season, the Yankees (52-28) have now dropped three straight series and four of their past five. They have also lost seven of their past 10 games overall, though they still own the majors’ third-best record.
Aaron Judge reacts after being called out on strikes during the Yankees’ loss to the Braves on Sunday
“Nobody’s holding their heads, nobody’s panicking in here,” said Nestor Cortes, who pitched seven strong innings while giving up three runs. “Just a rough patch that, 162 games, you’re going to go through. Just gotta figure out a way to get out of it.”
The Yankees will try to use Monday’s off day to reset before heading into Tuesday’s Subway Series at Citi Field.
Trailing 3-0 in the sixth inning, the Yankees finally broke through against Fried and the Braves (43-32) when Anthony Volpe roped an RBI double to the gap to score Trent Grisham from first.
Alex Verdugo reacts after striking out during the Yankees’ loss to the Braves on Sunday
Juan Soto came up next and hit a ground ball to shortstop, but Volpe took off for third on the play and Orlando Arcia threw to Austin Riley to nab him there for the first out of the inning.
Manager Aaron Boone, who unsuccessfully challenged the play, said he was OK with Volpe’s decision to break for third and had more of an issue with the lack of an obstruction call on Riley.
“It’s behind [Volpe] — it’s actually a risky play on their part,” Boone said. “Down a couple runs, it’s an out either way. Little bit of a roadblock over there at third, we’re not seeing that blocking of the bag, apparently not being called much at all.”
Yankees starter Nestor Cortes (65) reacts after giving up an RBI single in the fifth inning
Volpe called it a “tough play.”
“The angle I’m coming in at, the angle [Riley] is trying to get in the baseline,” Volpe said. “It happens so quick, you’re just trying to get there safe. Just a weird play, the angle I’m coming in at. I don’t know if he’s blocking, but you got to try to get there anyways.”
Aaron Judge followed with a single to put runners on first and second, but Alex Verdugo hit a grounder up the middle to a well-positioned Arcia to start an inning-ending double play.
The rest of the afternoon, the Yankees went quietly down against Fried (six innings) and the Braves bullpen on a day that began with Giancarlo Stanton landing on the 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain that is expected to cost him around four weeks.
Aaron Boone of the New York Yankees argues with umpire Chris Conroy after Soto was called out on strikes looking during the eighth inning.
Grisham, in the lineup for Stanton, produced two of the Yankees’ seven hits, but the middle of their lineup did not provide much of a threat.
“[Fried] has really good stuff, really good command and command of all his pitches, at least today,” Volpe said. “I thought our approach was good, we had good at-bats all throughout, but he made pitches.”
It did not help that Soto had the bat taken out of his hands with two outs in the eighth inning. On a 1-2 count, he made a late attempt to call timeout, but home plate umpire Chris Conroy did not grant it, and reliever Joe Jimenez delivered strike three as Soto stepped out of the box, ending the inning unceremoniously.
“I get it from Chris’ standpoint, it’s really close,” Boone said. “But [Soto] did say it before he rose up [with his hand].”
Juan Soto argues being called out on a strike after asking for a time out in the eighth inning on Sunday
Ex-Met Jarred Kelenic did most of the damage against Cortes. He drilled a solo shot in the third inning, the first hit Cortes gave up on the afternoon, and then made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly as part of a two-run fifth inning.
”I thought Nestor was really good,” Boone said. “That was about as good of stuff as Nestor’s had.”
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