The Yankees unleashed their five-game losing streak on Tuesday, but a night later, their cruel offensive feature remained alive in the early season.
Without the wild field the Braves gave them on Tuesday to disguise their fight, the Yankees’ attack lost Wednesday night in a Yankee Stadium 4-1.
It was another lifeless loss for the Yankees (6-11), who collected just five hits (all singles). They did draw six runs, but got stuck on nine base runners and did not score points, until Clint Frazier’s RBI bloop singles with two out in ninth place. It comes an evening after five hits were just enough to secure a win over the Braves (8-10), but on Wednesday there was no lifeline from the Atlanta bull.
Corey Kluber gave the Yankees a good start. He was in control through four pointless innings until he lost in the fifth order and surrendered a few runs. But even a perfect outing would not have been enough to save the Yankees this evening.
Braves appetizer, Ian Anderson, a New York resident, seemed at home in the cold conditions. The Yankees barely made him sweat most of the night, as he sailed through just six innings in just 78 places.
They finally put together their biggest threat of the game in the seventh innings when a Mike Ford singles and two-out run after Gary Sanchez and Frazier loaded the base. But AJ Minter relieved Anderson and put out the fire by letting DJ LeMahieu ground it.
The manager, Aaron Boone, juggled the series before the 3-1 win on Tuesday, and he adjusted it again on Wednesday, trying to find some sort of spark. He knocked Giancarlo Stanton into the three holes for the first time this season and had Gio Urshela, one of his most productive players of late, batting clearance. The struggling outside players Aaron Hicks and Frazier also re-entered the series after not starting on Tuesday
It hardly made a difference. Urshela, after being 1-for-3, left the game in the eighth innings with low back stiffness. Stanton scored 0-for-4 with an elimination, while Hicks and Frazier combined to walk 1-for-5 with three runs.
Kluber was sharp through four innings, causing poor contact, giving up just a single one and a walk and stranding both runners. He got help in the third innings when Frazier ran a long way to make a dive in the left field on a volleyball from Ehire Adrianza.
But Kluber started to wear out in the fifth inning. Pablo Sandoval made the most difficult contact with him all night to start the fifth with a single ride to the right line. One later, Kluber got Austin Riley in a 0-and-2 score, just to walk him. He then steps Guillermo Heredia to number 9 to load the bases.
Adrianza gave the Braves a 1-0 lead with a sacrificial fly to the center field, when Sandoval came down from third place for the first run of the match.
Kluber then walked Freddie Freeman on four pitches – his third step of the innings – to recharge the base and mark the end of his night on 91 pitches.
Nick Nelson relieved Kluber and walked Marcell Ozuna on four stands to run and make the 2-0 Braves. Nelson finally found his command and beat Travis d’Arnaud to leave the base loaded.