About Last Night: Yankees 8, Braves 3

By Mike Whiteman June 23, 2024 On this day in 1988, "Billy V" ended when George Steinbrenner fired manager Billy Martin. The Yankees were in second place at the time of the termination, two games out of first place. Unfortunately, the Yanks were sub-.500 under Martin's replacement, Lou Piniella, and they ended the season in fifth place.

It marked the end of Martin's accomplished, yet somewhat tragic managerial career in which he took four teams to the postseason, yet wore out his welcome with all of them. . https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Billy-Martin/ https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/martibi02.shtml Quick Stats: The Yankees are 52-27, their .658 winning percentage tied with the Phillies for the best in MLB. They are a game and a half ahead of Baltimore in the American League East. Aaron Judge's home run was his 28th, leading the majors. He is on pace for 57 homers this year. Big Story: Atlanta jumped out to an early lead in the first when Marcell Ozuna ripped a solo home run to right center. Almost as soon as Yankee fans could say "here we go again", Aaron Judge smacked a two run shot of his own in the bottom of the frame and the team had a lead they would not relinquish. They added single runs in the third and fourth innings, and broke the game open with a three-run sixth that featured a two-run single by Oswaldo Cabrera (batting righthanded) and a bases-loaded walk by Judge. Trent Grisham capped the scoring with a home run in the seventh after coming on when Giancarlo Stanton sustained an injury running the bases earlier in the game. After aces Luis Gil and Carlos Rodon were shelled the past two games, Marcus Stroman provided a solid, steady outing, allowing three runs over six plus innings. Michael Tonkin, Luke Weaver and Phil Bickford held the Braves scoreless the last two and a third innings, and the Yankees were back in the win column. Yankees 8, Braves 3. Player of the Game: The Yankees first and foremost needed a well pitched game, and Stroman provided that.

Notable Performances: Juan Soto reached base four times, with a single and three walks...Tonkin has a 1.07 ERA in Pinstripes...Ben Rice had a single and walk and in the third inning made a real nice grab on a hot shot off the bat of Ozzie Albies to start a double play...Cabrera had two hits...hustling Austin Wells scored from first base on Cabrera's sixth inning single. We don't see that often from a catcher! Better to Forget: Aaron Boone stated that Stanton would undergo and MRI to look at his "hamstring tightness" and "we'll see what we got". It would be a shame to see Stanton miss significant time after all he has done to stay healthy. Stanton catches a lot of grief, but he and his 119 OPS+ won't be easy to replace in the lineup should he have an extended absence. They Said It: "I wouldn't put a ceiling on anything that Aaron Judge can do" - Aaron Boone when asked what Judge was capable of doing in 2024. My Take: A good win over a good team is always welcome. After Friday's loss to the Braves, Boone stated “It’s been a rough week for us. That’s part of it. In a lot of ways, it’s not the worst thing to happen. I want to make sure in a lot of areas we’re tightened up. Everything’s kind of gone our way, and it’s a reminder that, hey, this thing is hard.” Things really have broke the Yankees' way in the first half of the season. We're now at a rough patch that the team will need to work through. There are some things that can be addressed by new personnel, but simplistically speaking, there are some folks who just need to - and likely will - play better than they have over the past week. The key is to not fall into freefall before recovery. This is where leadership of the manager and influential players can be key. The catching situation especially could become a sticky problem. We don't see a lot of good catchers moved during the season as 1) there aren't that many to be moved and 2) catching may be the most relational position on the diamond, and replacing them mid-year could be disruptive. For all of his recent struggles, Jose Trevino on the season has thrown out basically a league-average percentage of those who have run against him, and is actually a hair above average for his career. He strikes me as a sharp, thoughtful player and hopefully can work through this. Next Up: Get the series win! Nestor Cortes (4-5, 3.35) toes the mound against Max Fried (6-3, 3.11) at 1:35.