Yankees 6, Braves 2: Dingers and a quality CC start on July 4

What better way to celebrate Independence Day than with a Yankees win? The Yankees picked up a crisp 6-2 win over the Braves on Wednesday afternoon to clinch their third consecutive series victory. They are now 18-2-2 in their last 22 series. It’s the Fourth of July, so let’s bullet point this recap:

• Power & Patience: Julio Teheran went into this start with baseball’s fourth highest walk rate (11.3%) and 13th highest home run rate (1.54 HR/9), which is a bad combination. Greg Bird drove in Didi Gregorius with a single in the third inning for a 1-0 lead, then, in the third, Aaron Hicks worked a two-out walk and Giancarlo Stanton followed with a three-run homer into the right field bleachers. T’was crushed. Kyle Higashioka added a fourth inning solo homer for a 5-1 lead. Teheran’s line: 5 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 10 K, 2 HR. Those walks and dingers will cost you.
• Six Strong From Sabathia: The Braves had their best chance against CC Sabathia right in the first inning. A single, a hit batsmen, and a walk loaded the bases with two outs, but Sabathia got Ronald Acuna Jr. to chase a high fastball for an inning-ending strikeout, and that was pretty much it. Atlanta got a run home on a ground out in the fifth and a solo homer in the sixth. Sabathia’s line: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 2 HB. Little wild, but that’s okay. Sabathia owns a 3.02 ERA on the season, and he’s gone at least six innings in four of his last six starts. Big man’s still got it.
• The Bullpen: Unlike Tuesday’s win, the usual end-game relievers were available Wednesday. Chad Green allowed two singles in the seventh and his outs were louder than the singles. Two soft singles and three well-struck fly outs. A scoreless inning is a scoreless inning though. I’ll take it. Dellin Betances struck out two in the eighth and, once the Yankees stretched the lead to four runs, Jonathan Holder got the ninth. He pitched around a one-out bloop single. Ballgame over.
• Leftovers: In case you missed it earlier, Gleyber Torres exited the game with right hip tightness and was placed on the disabled list … Aaron Judge clocked a short porch solo homer in the seventh for an insurance run … two singles for Gregorius, two walks for Hicks, and a single and a walk for Neil Walker … and finally, Higashioka is the ninth player to go deep for his first three career hits. He’s the second Yankee to do it, joining Alfonso Soriano. Neat!

Here are the box score, video highlights, updated standings, and our Bullpen Workload page. The Yankees have an off-day Thursday, then they begin an eleven games in ten days road trip to end the first half. First up: Three games in Toronto. Sonny Gray and Sam Gaviglio are the scheduled starters for Friday night’s series opener.

Source: FanGraphs

Minor League Update: It’s a holiday, so I am skipping the usual DotF update today. Here are the minor league box scores. Peruse at your leisure. Masahiro Tanaka is making his first — and probably only — rehab start with Triple-A Scranton tonight.