Yankees optimistic, Braves searching for answers as second half begins

Two teams headed in different directions will resume the season Friday when the New York Yankees visit the Atlanta Braves to open a three-game interleague series.

The Yankees entered the All-Star break at 53-43, good for second place in the American League East, two games behind Toronto. New York won five of its final seven games before the break.

"There's a long way to go still," New York manager Aaron Boone said. "We've got to keep getting better, but we're in a position to do what we need to do."

The Braves are 42-53, 12 1/2 games behind NL East-leading Philadelphia and a long-distance 9 1/2 games back in the wild-card race. Atlanta won two of three in its last series, but has dropped 12 of its last 17 games.

"It's been a tough first half and that's probably understating everything," Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. "We've got to look for positives."

The Braves won two of three against the Yankees in New York last season and swept a three-game series against New York in Atlanta in 2023. The Yankees last won the teams' season series in 2021, when they took three of four games.

Atlanta will start Spencer Strider (3-7, 3.94 ERA). The Yankees have not announced a starter.

Strider is beginning to round into form from the right elbow surgery that cost him most of last season. Over the last six starts his ERA is 2.95 and he has pitched at least six innings in five of those appearances. In his last outing before the All-Star break, Strider received no decision against the Athletics on July 10 after throwing 6 2/3 innings and allowing three runs on five hits -- one of them a three-run homer in the first inning -- with three walks and 11 strikeouts.

"In a lot of cases it just feels like it's a couple of pitches, but that's just being able to execute consistently," Strider said.

A month ago, the Braves swept the Mets in Atlanta and sparked hopes of a surge to make the playoffs. But since then, when they were only five games below .500, the Braves have lost starting pitchers Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach to long-term injuries. That puts more pressure on Strider to return to his role as a top-of-the-rotation guy.

Strider has never faced the Yankees.

Before ending the first half on a strong note, New York had endured a six-game losing streak, which included a four-game sweep at Toronto. But Boone considers that a bump in the road.

"I sit here very convinced that we have a really good club with tremendous capabilities, but we've got to realize that potential," Boone said. "Now we get to go hopefully make it happen here the rest of the way in the second half and ultimately become the team we want to be."

The Yankees have scored 501 runs and have a plus-111 run differential, both No. 1 in the American League. Aaron Judge (.355, 35 homers, 81 RBIs) has established himself as a Triple Crown candidate.

Atlanta's offense has struggled. The Braves have scored only 388 runs and have a plus-2 run differential. Ronald Acuna Jr. is batting .323 with 12 homers in 45 games since returning from last season's knee surgery.