ATLANTA — One thing Aaron Boone has said he has enjoyed about the Yankees’ winning streak is seeing different players make contributions. One night it’s Andrew Velazquez getting the wrestling championship belt to mark his contributions, the next it’s Aaron Judge. While there are contributions up and down the lineup, Giancarlo Stanton has been consistently powering the Yankees to wins. He did it again Tuesday night, hitting one of the Bombers’ three homers in a 5-4 win over the Braves at Truist Park.
“It’s awesome, it’s like who’s gonna do it each night? We’re relying on one guy. And we’re feeding off each other like that,” Stanton said. “We just gotta keep pushing and keep this going.”
Tuesday night, Stanton and the Yankees had to hold their breath through another Aroldis Chapman meltdown, but kept their winning streak going.
The Yankees (74-52) have won a season-high 11 straight, something the Bombers have only done three times in the last 60 years. They also did it in 1985 and 1964. It was the first time the Braves (68-58) have lost back to back games since July 5-6, when they dropped two out of three to the Pirates.
Chapman, pitching on back-to-back nights for the first time since coming off the injured list, gave up a one-out single to Adam Duval and then gave pinch hitter Ehire Adrianza a two-out walk. He fell behind Ozzie Albies and seemed to get him on a slider in the dirt, but home plate umpire Chris Conroy ruled that the Braves second baseman had fouled it off. Albies then beat out a double hopper to third base to load the bases. Chapman then walked Jorge Soler to bring in the Braves fourth run.
Aaron Boone had to pull Chapman and go to Wandy Peralta to face Freddie Freeman in the bottom of the ninth. Peralta got a fly out to left field to pick up the save.
Th Yankees did it with their 16th game of the season in which they hit at least three home runs, with Stanton hitting his second in as many games. It was the first time Stanton has hit home runs in back-to-back games since June 9-10 against the Twins.
“I know what a threat he is. And when he’s going good, he’s obviously a guy that changes a game all the time. So, I just want to continue to make sure he’s in that good place, as much as we can all help them do that,” Boone said. “We’ve seen them in stretches, obviously, we saw him in the playoffs; everyone kind of hopped on his back. He led us through all that. So, I just want to make sure he continues to remain in a good place. And, and, and we continue to get those good results.”
Stanton extended his streak to reaching base to 21 straight games with a second-inning 418-foot no-doubter on a line drive to left-center field. Stanton has six home runs and 19 RBI over that stretch. He has six RBI in his last three games.
“I think for most guys, and it’s true for G, too, I think it comes down to making good swing decisions,” Boone said. “I think there’s a little bit of mechanical thing there where he’s getting enough load on the backside to really fire off a good swing and a strong swing.”
DJ LeMahieu hit his ninth home run of the season in the fifth inning. The two-run shot into the visitors’ bullpen in left field was just his second since June 26. It was his first go-ahead HR in the 5th inning or later since his walk-off homer Aug. 31, 2019 vs. the A’s. They were his 50th and 51st RBIs of the season. Rougned Odor hit his 15th homer of the season in the top of the seventh inning.
Gary Sanchez delivered with runners in scoring position, driving in Aaron Judge with a two-out single in the fourth inning.
