For the first time this season, the Yankees have looked vulnerable — not just having lost five of six heading into Saturday night, but mostly mediocre play over the last two weeks.
And then they were on the wrong end of back-to-back romps at the hands of the Orioles and Braves, respectively, the previous two games.
But the Yankees reverted to the form they’ve shown much of the year on Saturday with an 8-3 win over Atlanta thanks to a familiar formula: strong starting pitching and a powerful lineup.
Marcus Stroman pitched well into the seventh inning and Aaron Judge hit his MLB-leading 28th homer.
“It was a good bounce-back victory,’’ Aaron Boone said. “It’s been a little bit of a tough week for us.”
That’s putting it mildly.
Before the game, the manager noted how well the first few months of the season had gone, but noted, “Not that it’s ever easy, because it’s not, but sometimes a little reminder of getting your lunch handed to you or getting punched in the mouth helps you in the long haul keep that edge, keep that sharpness. It allows you to dig into how a team attacks you, maybe, and how to button those things up.”
Stroman and Judge did their part Saturday.
Sizzling Atlanta, which had won four in a row and seven of eight, took an early lead thanks to Marcell Ozuna’s two-out solo homer to right-center.
Judge answered in the bottom of the inning, as he followed Juan Soto’s one-out walk with a two-run shot to right-center to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.
“To answer right back with Aaron going deep and grabbing the lead was a big blow,’’ Boone said.
Stroman called it a “huge momentum shifter.”
The Yankees added a run in the third and one more in the fourth, although it came at the expense of a Giancarlo Stanton injury, as the injury-prone DH suffered left hamstring tightness scoring from second and had to leave the game.
They added more insurance in the sixth on Cabrera’s two-out, two-run single to right-center that scored Austin Wells all the way from first.
It was a shot Boone called “a dagger” that put the Yankees up 6-1.
And Stroman cruised into the seventh after Ozuna’s homer.
The right-hander retired 10 straight at one point before being yanked after Travis d’Arnaud took him deep with two outs in the seventh.
Just as important was the length Stroman provided after Luis Gil and Carlos Rodon were knocked out early the previous two games and Gerrit Cole lasted just four-plus innings in his season debut on Wednesday.
“That was huge, especially after the last couple games were pretty rough with the offense and starting pitching not coming through,’’ said Judge, who also has seven homers in his last 12 games. “This was just one game, but that’s what you’ve got to do any time you have a couple tough [games]. We understand it’s a long season, but every game matters.”
Though it’s not even July, the Yankees have been tested in a stretch that’s featured stiff competition from Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Kansas City and the Dodgers.
After closing out the series Sunday, they will head to Queens against the suddenly hot Mets on Tuesday for the Subway Series.
