Marcus Stroman Comes Up Big. NY 4 Atlanta 2

July 21, 2025 paperbacklou 2025 0
Marcus Stroman points at Anthony Volpe who did great job taking Stroman's throw and turning it into a 1-6-3 DP to end the 3rd.

Marcus Stroman threw 6 innings of 1-run ball to lead the Yanks to a much-needed 4-2 win over the Braves in Atlanta on a Sunday afternoon.

NY takes the series 2 games to 1, and remain 3 behind the Blue Jays heading into a 3-game set in Toronto this week.

Aaron Judge put the Yanks on top with his 36th HR of the year, and Giancarlo Stanton smoked the ball the first 4 times up, getting 3 hits. Paul Goldschmidt, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Jorbit Vivas added RBI’s and the bullpen of Ian Hamilton, Tim Hill, and Devin Williams did its job.

But the MVP was Stroman, who pitched his 4th straight excellent ballgame since coming back from the 2-month stay on the IL due to knee soreness — this start his best one yet.

“That was huge,” said manager Aaron Boone about Stroman’s start. “To do it in a victory. He continued to do a really good job of mixing and matching. Staying unpredictable. Using all his pitches. Using both sides of the plate. I thought Benny (catcher Ben Rice) did a great job with him back there. Good defensive plays behind him.”

“The key to Stro is being willing to Get into the strike zone,” added Boone. “And have presence on both sides of the plate. And then mixing the whole thing so you can’t really lay on any one pitch, because he’s giving you a lot of different looks.”

NY improves to 55-44, 3 games back of Toronto and 2 ahead of Boston. Atlanta falls to 43-55.

1. Judge HR & Goldy Single Put NY Up 2-0 in 1st

The Yanks came out cracking against Atlanta’s 29-year-old, 6’0 righty starter Grant Holmes.

Jasson Dominguez lined out to 3rd, and Aaron Judge hit a 409-foot bomb to right center for a 1-0 Yankee lead.

Cody Bellinger flied out for the 2nd out, but Giancarlo Stanton RIPPED a single to right, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. laid down a perfect bunt for a single down 3rd with the 3rd baseman playing back and toward shortstop.

Paul Goldschmidt singled to center and Giancarlo Stanton chugged home — careful not to run to fast to blow a hamstring. The threw from centerfielder Michael Harris II was way off so Stanton scored.

2. Stroman Strong

And then Marcus Stroman took the mound with a 2-0 lead, and pitched a typical Marcus Stroman ballgame when he is on his game: lots of groundouts on his sinker, with some strikeouts and pop ups. Stroman is always fun to watch — a pitcher’s pitcher — working the zone.

Stroman got into a little bit of trouble in the 3rd — allowing consecutive singles to lead off the inning — but then got a foul out on a tremendous play at 3rd by Jorbit Vivas, and then a double play — Stroman grabbing a comebacker, tossing it to Anthony Volpe who did a great job catching the slightly-off throw at 2nd and turning it into a double play. It was like that.

Stroman led 2-0 through 5 innings, and 3-0 into the 6th when he allowed a solo homer with 1 out to Matt Olson — but then got the next 2 outs on fairly deep fly outs.

Stroman’s line: 6 IP, 5 hits, 1 run, 4 K’s, 0 walks. He wins to go 2-1 5.64.

3. Vivas Hit by Pitch with Bases Loaded in 6th

The Yanks got Stroman a 3-0 lead against Holmes in the top of the 6th.

Giancarlo Stanton RIPPED another single — this one to left — leading off.

Then with 1 out, Holmes walked Paul Goldschmidt and Ben Rice to load the bases.

Anthony Volpe hit a grounder to 3rd but Nacho Alvarez Jr. threw home to get Stanton. But with 2 outs, bases loaded, Holmes hit Jorbit Vivas with a pitch to force in a run and make it 3-0 NY at the time.

4. Chisholm Drives in Judge in 7th

Matt Olson’s solo HR in the bottom of the 6th made it a 3-1 game, but the Yanks got their 3-run lead right back in the top of the 7th.

Aaron Judge led off with a semi-intentional walk by D Dunning, but Bellinger flied out to right and Giancarlo Stanton RIPPED ANOTHER SHOT to right — this one caught Ron Acuna Jr.

With 2 outs, Jazz Chisholm Jr. ripped a double to the gap in left center, and Judge flew around the bases to score sliding in. NY 4 Atlanta 1.

5. Yankee Bullpen Does the Job

The Yankee bullpen did its job:

Ian Hamilton pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 7th — good news as he had been clobbered as an ‘Opener’ two games earlier on Friday night.

Tim Hill pitched a shutout 8th — getting two easy flyout after allowing a 1-out single.

Devin Williams pitched the 9th — and coughed up a massive 456-foot homer to center by Ron Acuna Jr. leading off.

But then Devin got strike out, pop out, ground out for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401696394

 

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