The South Did Not Rise Again

I suppose it was appropriate that on July 2, 3 and 4, the anniversaries of the American Civil War's Battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg, the "Yankees" were playing "the sons of the South."

The South did not "rise again," except in the series opener at Yankee Stadium. Jonathan Loaisiga did not allow any runs in the 1st or 2nd innings, but allowed 1 in the 3rd and 2 in the 4th, making the score 3-2 Braves. Aaron Judge had hit a home run. Manager Aaron Boone saw that Loaisiga had thrown 92 pitches, and he panicked, and went to bullpen-by-committee.

It worked, all the way through the 10th inning: Between them, Jonathan Holder, Chad Green, Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances went 6 innings, allowing just 3 hits and 1 walk. In the meantime, the Yankees tied the game in the 5th.

But Boone brought David Robertson in for the top of the 11th. The inning began with an error by rookie sensation Gleyber Torres, undoing a 3-for-4 day for him. Robertson got the next batter out, but Ronald Acuna, the youngest player in the major leagues, born at the end of 1997 -- time flies -- took him deep.

Let the record show that, after Didi Gregorius' RBI sacrifice fly in the 5th, the Yankees got 10 baserunners -- of them on intentional walks -- and got none of them home. Braves 5, Yankees 3. WP: Jesse Biddle (2-0). SV: A.J. Minter (4). LP: Robertson (5-3).

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The pitching wasn't much better in the Tuesday game -- on either side. Domingo German once again showed that he's not ready to be a major league starting pitcher, as he allowed 3 runs and didn't get out of the 5th inning. Adam Warren allowed 2 more.

But the Yankee bats snapped out of it. Aaron Hicks, Kyle Higashioka and Giancarlo Stanton hit home runs. Stanton and Aaron Judge each had 2 hits, while Stanton, Hicks and Higashioka each had 2 RBIs.

Yankees 8, Braves 5. WP: A.J. Cole (3-1). SV: Aroldis Chapman (24). LP: Sean Newcomb (8-3).

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A day game after a night game is not fun. Especially when the temperature at first pitch is 89 degrees. But it was the 4th of July, and a matinee on that day is traditional.

CC Sabathia did not pitch on the 4th of July for the 1st time under a 48-star flag. He's old, but he's not that old. He's still young enough to go 6 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks, striking out 5.

Stanton hit a 3-run homer in the 3rd inning, Higashioka a solo shot in the 4th, and Judge a solo job in the 7th. Chad Green, Dellin Betances and Jonathan Holder each pitched a scoreless inning.

Yankees 6, Braves 2. WP: Sabathia (6-3). No save. LP: Julio Teheran (6-6).