For the first time this season, the Yankees have looked vulnerable — not just having lost five of six heading into Saturday night but also mostly mediocre play over the last two weeks.
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 at the Stadium 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.
“The way we’ve run out the first few months of the season, everything’s gone as well as it can go,’’ Aaron Boone said before the game. “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, following Juan Soto’s one-out walk with a two-run shot to right-center to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.
They loaded the bases against Charlie Morton with no one out in the third on a single by Oswaldo Cabrera, a walk by Anthony Volpe and a base hit from Soto, but Judge followed by hitting into a double play.
It scored Cabrera to make it 3-1 before Morton escaped with no further damage.
Giancarlo Stanton opened the bottom of the fourth with a booming fly ball to center that Kelenic misplayed into a double and Stanton scored on a double by Gleyber Torres.
Stanton, however, left the game soon after with what the Yankees called “left hamstring tightness.” He will undergo imaging Sunday.
The Yankees 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.
Stroman cruised 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.
Stroman pitched poorly in two of his previous three starts, with his ERA jumping from 2.60 ERA to 3.08 during that stretch.
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 Wednesday.
Even before the win, Boone was confident his team wouldn’t be rattled by the recent downturn that put their AL East lead over Baltimore in jeopardy.
“It’s inevitable that you’re gonna have a bump, even in the best of seasons,” Boone said. “I feel we are absolutely cut out for it. I love the makeup of our group.”
And it’s been tested for the first time against stiff competition from Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Kansas City and the Dodgers.
“I feel this group is in a really good spot and equipped to handle this little stretch we’re going through,’’ Boone said.