The Yankees bounced back from losing their last two games with a 6-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Yankee Stadium on Friday night.
Here are the takeaways…
–Marcus Stroman was certainly not at his best on Friday night, but he was good enough to get the win. The Cardinals attacked Stroman by swinging early in the count and tagging him for nine hits, but scraped across just two runs as the Yankees right-hander executed when he needed to and limited the damage.
Because St. Louis was so aggressive, Stroman was economical and able to pitch deep into the game – something he has struggled to do this season – tossing seven innings while striking out five. It was the first time he pitched into the seventh inning since June 22 vs. the Braves and the first time he’s pitched a full seven innings since May 31 against the Giants, when he tossed 7.1.
The only runs came in the third inning when Stroman allowed four consecutive two-out singles that resulted in two Cardinals runs. Stroman nearly escaped the jam too when Brendan Donovan popped a ball up in foul territory but Jazz Chisholm could not complete the catch.
Donovan followed by tying the game up with a single while Paul Goldschmidt gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead with a RBI single, too.
-The Yankees bounced back in the bottom of the third inning. Gleyber Torres got the ball rolling with a one-out walk before Juan Soto knocked him in with an RBI double to tie the game back up. Cardinals’ pitcher Erick Fedde decided to pitch to Aaron Judge with a base open and succeeded, getting the likely MVP to pop up.
But it was cleanup hitter Austin Wells who delivered the big blow, belting a 399-foot home run just over the right-center field wall to give the Yankees a 4-2 lead.
With the Yankees leading just 4-3 in the eighth, Wells struck again, blasting a 413-foot home run into right-center field to put the Bombers up 6-3 and give them extra insurance for the ninth inning.
Wells is now hitting .256/.346/.431 with 12 home runs and a .792 OPS as he continues to make a case for himself as American League Rookie of the Year.
-Soto went 2-for-3 with an RBI at the plate, but he also had the stadium buzzing when he threw out Cardinals DH Alec Burleson at second base from right field after Burleson overslid the bag on a ball that one-hopped off the wall.
Fans chanted “Re-sign Soto” after the play, drawing a smirk from the right fielder as the Yankees faithful does its part in lobbying the free-agent-to-be to stay.
–Jake Cousins’ scoreless innings streak came to an end at 12 when he allowed a two-out solo home run to Nolan Arenado in the eighth inning. Cousins last allowed a run on Aug. 7 vs. the Angels.
-Judge went 0-for-4, snapping an 18-game on-base streak.
Game MVP: Austin Wells
The Yankees catcher was responsible for four of the six runs, belting two homers — one putting the Yankees ahead and the other providing some much-needed insurance en route to a 6-3 win.
Highlights
What’s next
The Yanks continue their three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday in the Bronx. First pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m.
RHP Will Warren (0-2, 9.68 ERA) faces RHP Kyle Gibson (7-6, 4.54 ERA).
