NEW YORK — For eight innings Friday night, the Yankees looked trapped in the same offensive pattern that had followed them back to the Bronx. They put runners on base, missed chances to cash them in and watched a strong starting-pitching performance move closer to another empty result.
Atlanta carried a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth at Yankee Stadium after Austin Riley homered off Fernando Cruz in the eighth and Matt Olson went deep against Tim Hill in the ninth. The Yankees had struck out 15 times, had not hit a home run and had not sent a runner to third base all night.
That made the final two innings stand out. New York did not escape with a three-run blast from the middle of the lineup. It did not wait for one of its injured stars to rescue the night. The Yankees instead stayed within two runs long enough to create one final opening.
The result was a 3-2, 10-inning win that ended the Braves’ eight-game winning streak. It was only the Yankees’ fifth victory in 47 games when trailing after eight innings and their second win in 10 extra-inning games this season. David Bednar earned the win. Tyler Kinley took the loss. No save was recorded.
A comeback built without a home run
For most of the night, the Yankees repeated the same problem that had followed them through the Cardinals series. They reached base but could not finish innings. Atlanta starter Tyler Mahle and the Braves bullpen kept turning traffic into stranded runners.
Lombard started the ninth with an infield single and immediately changed the inning with his legs. Braves closer Raisel Iglesias threw wildly past first base, and the rookie raced to third. He became the first Yankees runner to reach third all night.
Then the game revealed the different kind of energy this reshaped Yankees roster can bring. Austin Wells lined an RBI double with two outs. Amed Rosario worked an eight-pitch walk. Ben Rice drove a tying single off the right-field wall.
The Yankees did not homer. Their first two runs came on contact, and the winner came in the 10th on Ryan McMahon’s sacrifice fly. Luis García Jr., the automatic runner, scored when Ronald Acuña Jr.’s throw from right field sailed off line.
Friday did not erase the Yankees’ offensive problems, but it exposed how different the same kind of traffic can look when New York plays with urgency. Two nights earlier against St. Louis, the Yankees reached base 13 times on four hits, eight walks and one hit batter, forced five Cardinals pitchers to throw 188 pitches and still produced only one run, on a bases-loaded walk. They stranded 11 runners and repeatedly let innings die after doing the hard part of creating pressure.
Against Atlanta, that pressure finally became movement and damage. Lombard forced the defense to rush, Wells and Rice delivered with two outs, García’s speed mattered in extras and McMahon finished the comeback with a sacrifice fly. The difference was not more power. It was what the Yankees did after they reached base.
Lombard and Garcia changed the game with their legs and gloves
The shift went beyond the ninth-inning rally. The Yankees also won because speed and defense changed several high-leverage plays.
Trent Grisham supplied the first one in the opening inning. After Mauricio Dubón singled, Grisham threw to third to retire Ozzie Albies. Replay showed Drake Baldwin had not crossed home plate before the tag, taking an Atlanta run off the board.
The 10th brought two more difficult plays. George Lombard made an off-balance throw on Sean Murphy’s grounder.
Luis García then chased down Acuña’s looping pop-up in shallow right field with an over-the-shoulder catch to end the inning and strand the automatic runner.
Manager Aaron Boone called the victory gritty. The ninth-inning sequence, he said, came with the Yankees’ margin nearly exhausted.
“Our backs were up against the wall, and they were able to deliver,” Boone said. “That was great, and then the pitching did their thing.”
New faces are supplying a missing layer
The Yankees have been forced to remake parts of their lineup while Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton remain unavailable. Friday showed how the replacements can influence games even when New York is not producing its usual power.
Lombard brought speed and range at shortstop. García added athleticism at first base and scored the winning run. Wells and Rice delivered the two-out contact that prevented a shutout. McMahon finished it with a sacrifice fly instead of a home run.
Heliot Ramos also contributed without scoring. The recently acquired outfielder singled and drew two walks, reaching base three times. His line added another example of a newcomer creating traffic while the offense searched for a breakthrough.
The Yankees still struck out 15 times and left 13 runners on base. Those numbers are not a sustainable offensive model. The comeback did not erase the lineup’s problems.
What changed was how New York survived them. The Yankees forced a throwing mistake with speed, used contact to tie the game and leaned on defense to get through the automatic runner in extras. It was a route to victory that required more than waiting for power.
The Yankees moved to 65-51 and remained in the AL East and postseason race. The offense still has work to do. Friday’s difference was that the Yankees found enough speed, defense, contact and pressure to win before the final out arrived.
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