Braves threaten late but get swept in short road series with Yankees

AP photo by Kathy Willens / Atlanta Braves catcher Travis d'Arnaud, left, watches as the New York Yankees Aaron Hicks follows through on a run-scoring double in the fourth inning of Wednesday night's game in New York.
AP photo by Kathy Willens / Atlanta Braves catcher Travis d'Arnaud, left, watches as the New York Yankees Aaron Hicks follows through on a run-scoring double in the fourth inning of Wednesday night's game in New York.

NEW YORK - Injury fill-in Clint Frazier had three hits, including a home run, and scored twice in his season debut as the New York Yankees beat the Atlanta Braves 6-3 Wednesday night, sweeping a two-game set.

Johan Camargo lined a two-run homer in the top of the second inning to give the Braves an early lead against Masahiro Tanaka, charged with two runs on five hits and two walks in four innings.

The Yankees tied it in the bottom half, clubbing back-to-back homers for the first time this season. Hitting .093 with just two extra-base hits coming into the game, Gary Sanchez connected for a leadoff shot to left. Starting in right field for hobbled slugger Aaron Judge, Frazier followed with a 103.1 mph blast into the Atlanta bullpen.

"Tonight was fun. It felt good to get the first at-bat out of the way and just be able to breathe," Frazier said. "I feel like I'm a little more advanced in some areas, and I'm just glad tonight was able to start with a bang."

Starter Huascar Ynoa was lifted a few batters later, kicking off a cavalcade of six Atlanta relievers in seven innings.

Aaron Hicks' run-scoring double in the fourth chased Tyler Matzek (2-1) and gave New York its first lead. Gleyber Torres skied a Josh Tomlin offering to right for a single, scoring Hicks.

DJ LeMahieu and Luke Voit added RBI singles off Tomlin an inning later to wrap up the scoring. LeMahieu (4-for-5) raised his batting average to an American League-leading .431.

"I definitely have the same type of confidence, for sure, and the results are following as well," LeMahieu said, when asked if he felt similar to when he captured the 2016 National League batting title with the Colorado Rockies.

Jonathan Loaisiga (2-0) had a pair of scoreless innings and struck out three batters.

The Braves threatened in the seventh when the first two batters reached against Loaisiga. Chad Green came on to retire Travis d'Arnaud, Freddie Freeman and Marcell Ozuna in order.

D'Arnaud singled in a run against Jonathan Holder in the ninth. Zack Britton then walked Freeman to bring the tying run to the plate before retiring Ozuna and Adam Duvall, earning his seventh save in seven chances this year.

Frazier finished a triple short of the cycle, adding a single and double in his second and third at-bats.

"You throw three out there, and single, double, homer. That's a pretty good return, and I'm not surprised," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "Excited to see him come up and really have an impact."

Once a top prospect, the sometimes enigmatic 25-year-old has struggled to secure playing time since being acquired in a July 2016 trade. He was recalled Tuesday when Giancarlo Stanton landed on the injured list with a strained hamstring.

"Tonight was my first real game of 2020. It's been a lot of sim games and it felt good to get instant results," Frazier said. "I'm just thrilled that I got to play tonight."

The Yankees are 23-0-3 in their past 26 series at home. According to STATS, it is the longest undefeated streak in franchise history, eclipsing their previous best, achieved in 1997, 1998, and 1937.

Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr (sore left wrist) sat for the second straight night. The National League's top rookie and a standout again last year, he was a late scratch prior to Tuesday's series opener and was still being evaluated Wednesday.

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