The New York Yankees were punished in the first game of the doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday afternoon. After a rainout on Tuesday, the game was pushed to Wednesday at 4 PM, and it didn’t seem like the Yankees brought their best selves to Atlanta.
Losing 5-1, rookie pitcher for the Braves Ian Anderson struck out six batters and allowed just one hit over 6.0 innings. It was a fantastic outing for the Braves, leaving the Yankees wondering what went wrong. Ultimately, it was their bats that failed to produce once again.
Good news and bad news for the New York Yankees following the loss to Atlanta:
GOOD NEWS:
There wasn’t much good news from the Yankees’ loss to the Braves, aside from Luke Voit, who smashed his 11th homer of the season. The first baseman has been on fire since the start of the regular season.
However, that was literally the only piece of good news to share.
BAD NEWS:
The bad news stretches from the batting order to the starting pitching unit. The Yankees struck out six times and recorded just two hits. Starter Gerrit Cole lasted five innings, allowing five hits, five earned runs, and three homers. This elevated his ERA to 3.51.
Ultimately, the starting rotation for the Yankees has been extremely problematic. With Cole struggling in the first game against the Braves and ruining his winning streak, the Yankees will now have to rely on Masahiro Tanaka in game two.
With the August 31 trade deadline sneaking up on us, the Yankees might be extremely active given the lack of resources they have in the starting rotation. With James Paxton out with a flexor issue, relying on options like JA Happ and young arms will not suffice. The season is quickly going sideways for a team that simply can’t stay healthy.