New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia delivers against the Atlanta Braves during the third inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, July 4, 2018, in New York. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)NEW YORK – Giancarlo Stanton hit a three-run homer, CC Sabathia pitched six effective innings and the New York Yankees beat the Atlanta Braves 6-2 on Wednesday.
Aaron Judge added his 24th homer of the season in the seventh inning. He’s now homered in three of his past four games.
Rookie second baseman Gleyber Torres left the game in the top of the fifth inning because of tightness in his right hip and will be placed on the 10-day disabled list.
Catcher Kyle Higashioka also homered for the Yankees, becoming the ninth player since 1920 whose first three hits were home runs. Colorado’s Trevor Story homered for his first four big-league hits April 4-6, 2016.
Sabathia (6-3) worked out of a couple of jams for the Yankees, who have won six of their past eight games after getting swept in three at Tampa last weekend.
National League East-leading Atlanta loaded the bases with two outs in the first inning, but the 37-year-old struck out 20-year-old phenom Ronald Acuna Jr. on an 88-mph cutter.
New York took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Greg Bird’s RBI single off Atlanta starter Julio Teheran (6-6), who lasted just five innings, allowing five hits and five runs. He walked four and struck out 10.
The Yankees got to Teheran again in the third.
With a runner on first and two outs, Aaron Hicks walked. Stanton then fell behind 0-2 before hitting a line drive to the right-field bleachers for his 21st homer of the season to make it 4-0.
After retiring the first two batters in the fourth, Teheran fell behind 2-0 against Higashioka before the 30-year-old rookie connected to the left-field stands, extending the lead to 5-0.
The Braves cut the deficit to 5-1 on an RBI grounder from Danny Santana with one out in the fifth. Johan Camargo hit his ninth home run of the season with two outs in the sixth, but Sabathia limited the damage by retiring Dansby Swanson on a grounder to second with a runner aboard.
Atlanta failed to take advantage in the seventh against reliever Chad Green when its first two batters reached on a pair of singles. Green then got three flyouts to end the threat.
New York has one of the best records in baseball but only one player, Judge, among the eight leading vote-getters on the American League squad for the All-Star Game that will be played July 17 at Washington. The starters for the Midsummer Classic will be revealed Sunday.
The Braves’ star first baseman, Freddie Freeman, was hit by a pitch in the third inning anad left the game after the fourth because of a contusion in his right upper arm.
Left-handed pitcher Luiz Gohara, the No. 3 prospect in the Atlanta organization, arrived about 90 minutes before the first pitch after he was called up from Triple-A Gwinnett for the second time this season. Right-hander Evan Phillips, who threw 2 1/3 innings Tuesday night, was sent down to Triple-A.
Max Fried (1-2, 2.55 ERA) will start on the mound for the Braves in the opener of their four-game series at NL Central-leading Milwaukee tonight. Fried struck out 11 in 6 2/3 scoreless innings in his previous start against St. Louis.