Tonight’s game faced New York Yankee starter Corey Kluber against the Braves starter Ian Anderson at Yankee Stadium. Kluber had a rough beginning as a Yankee pitcher, and the Yankees hoped he would bounce back for a second win in this series. The Yankees at the start of this game sat at the bottom of the American League. The game time weather was cold raw, and very windy. Final score 4-1 Braves.
To start the game, Ehire Adrianza flew out for Kluber. Freddie Freeman flew out to Judge. Marcell Ozuna popped out to Torres to end the half and an eleven-pitch inning for Kluber. At the bottom, Dj LeMahieu facing Ian Anderson grounded to short. Aaron Judge ground out. Giancarlo Stanton lined out sharply to left field to end the inning with no score.
Travis d’Arnaud led off the second against Kluber and flew out to Clint Frazier in left. Ozzie Albies singled to left field. Pedro Sandoval at the plate had a passed ball advances Albies to second. Sandoval flew out to Judge, and Judge held Albies at second. Dansby Swanson lined out to short to end the half. At the bottom, Gio Urshela led off by flying out to right field. Gleyber Torres singled to right. Mike Ford dribbled to first for an out, but Torres went to second. Aaron Hicks walked. Gary Sanchez struck out for no score in the game.
at the top of the third, Adrianza led of against Kluber and walked on four straight. Heredia flew out. Adrianza flew out to Frazier, who made an excellent diving catch. He threw out to first but hit the batter in the face. Freeman was called out on strikes ending the half. Clint Frazier led off the bottom popped out to the catcher. LeMahieu ground out. Aaron Judge walked. Giancarlo Stanton ground out to second to end the inning and keep the game scoreless through three innings.
Marcell Ozuna ground out for the first out of the fourth innings. d’Arnaud lined out to Mike Ford at first, breaking his glove for the second out. Albies flew out to Aaron Judge to end the half. Gio Urshela led off the bottom of the inning by beating out a single. Torres flew out, Ford grounded out, and Hicks flew out to center to end the inning scoreless.
Pedro Sandoval led off the fifth inning with Kluber on the mound with this 63rd pitch of the game. Pedro singled to far-right, not challenging Judges rocket arm. Swanson struck out swinging. Riley walked, moving Sandoval to second. Heredia walked, getting Klubler into a real jam. The Yankees did everything slowly to give the bullpen time to warm up, including a mound visit. With Kluber still on the mound and Adrianza at the plate, Adrianza with the bases loaded and only one out, he sac flew to center, scoring Sandoval for the Braves lead in the game. With Freeman at the plate, he walked for three walks in the inning, removing Kluber from the game, with Nick Nelson relieving him. Ozuna facing Nelson, Ozuna walked in a run. d’Arnaud was finally stuck out to end the half, but the Yankee pitchers walked four of five in the inning and put the Braves up 2 in the game. At the bottom, Gary Sanchez struck out. Frazier ground out, and LeMahieu ground out to third base. Braves 2 Yankees 0.
The sixth inning saw Albies line out to Torres. Sandoval struck out. Swanson struck out swinging, giving Nick Nelson a 1-2-3 innings. Aaron Judge led off reached on a scorching single past first base at the bottom of the sixth. Stanton popped out to shallow center. Gio Urshela hit into a double play as the New York Yankees continue to lack hits. Urshela that usually busted his hump running, seemed to be slow to first. It was later revealed that he had lower back tightness and was removed from the game. Braves 2 Yankees 0.
In the seventh inning with Luis Cessa on the mound for the Yankees, Riley singled on a wind-driven hit that Ford couldn’t back peddle fast enough to catch. Heredia singled for two on and no outs. LeMahieu got an error on the play. Adrianza had a sac bunt moving the runners to second and third base. Freeman was intentionally walked. Ozuna singled, allowing Riley to score for the Braves 3 runs lead. d’Arnaud lined out to Gio for the final out, but the Rays pick up another run. Torres faced Anderson still in there with 79 pitches he grounded out to first at the bottom of the inning. Mike Ford lined to center for a single. Hicks struck out. Sanchez walked to two on and two outs. Clint Frazier walked to load the bases and knock Anderson out of the by with 97 pitches. He was replaced by A. J. Minter with the bases loaded and two outs. DJ LeMahieu ground out to third, leaving the bases full of Yankees and failing again to get that big hit. Braves 3 Yankees 0.
At the top of the eighth inning, Albies lined out. Sandoval lined out to center, and Swanson struck out to make it a quick inning for Cessa. At the bottom, Aaron Judge walked. Giancarlo Stanton struck out. Rougie Odor, in for Urshela that that was removed from the game with lower back tightness flew out to center for the second out. Torres flew out to right-center as the New York Yankees can’t get a hit against the second-worst bullpen in baseball. Braves 3 New York Yankees 0.
The top of the ninth saw Brooks Kriske against Austin Riley, who homered to center for the 4 run lead for the Braves. Heredia walked on four pitches. Adrianza walked for the second walk in the ninth. Freeman, with two on and no outs, skied to Hicks in center. Ozuna chopped into a failed double play moving Heredia to third base. d’Arnaud struck out, but the Rays picked up another run on the Yankees. At the bottom of the ninth, with the last licks on the line for the Yankees, Mike Ford came to the plate and faced the Brave’s Will Smith and flew out to center. Aaron Hicks from the right side against the lefty Smith walked. Gary Sanchez struck out for the third time in the game. Clint Frazier singled in Hicks to avoid the shut-out. DJ LeMahieu went 0 for 5 to end the game with a fly-out.
Although the New York Yankees were able to finally get a run in the ninth inning, they fell 3 runs short of a win. The winning pitcher was Ian Anderson, and the loser was Corey Kluber.