ATLANTA (AP) — Wandy Peralta retired Freddie Freeman with the bases loaded for the final out, and the New York Yankees held off the Atlanta Braves 5-4 in a thriller Tuesday night to extend their longest winning streak in 36 years to 11 games.
DJ LeMahieu‘s two-run homer in the fifth inning gave New York the lead. Giancarlo Stanton and Rougned Odor also went deep for the Yankees.
New York closer Aroldis Chapman, trying to preserve a 5-3 lead, gave up two hits and two walks in the ninth. Chapman’s bases-loaded walk to Jorge Soler cut the margin to one, and manager Aaron Boone pulled Chapman for Peralta.
He fell behind 3-1 in the count before throwing five straight changeups to Freeman, last year’s NL MVP. The slugger fouled off four in a row, then hit a game-ending flyout to deep left field.
Peralta earned his third save for the Yankees and the fifth of his career. The other two came earlier this season with San Francisco.
The Yankees remained four games behind first-place Tampa Bay in the AL East.
The 11-game winning streak is New York’s longest since Aug. 31 to Sept. 10, 1985.
Chapman gave up a one-out single to Adam Duvall before striking out Guillermo Heredia. Chapman walked Ehire Adrianza before Ozzie Albies beat out a grounder to third base for an infield hit, loading the bases. The left-hander walked Jorge Soler on a full-count pitch to force in a run.
LeMahieu broke a 2-all tie by pulling Charlie Morton‘s curveball into the Yankees’ bullpen behind the left-field wall. The homer drove in Andrew Velazquez, who singled.
With New York leading 4-2, Austin Riley’s single up the middle off Joely Rodriguez in the fifth drove in Albies, but a close play at the plate denied the Braves’ attempt to tie the game. Freeman was thrown out on Velazquez’s relay from shortstop, a call that stood following a review that lasted 1 minute, 40 seconds. The Braves believed Freeman’s left foot touched the plate before the tag from catcher Gary Sánchez.
Stanton also hit a hanging curve from Morton for a homer in the second. Stanton homered on back-to-back days as New York swept the two-game interleague series.
Odor’s seventh-inning drive off Chris Martin landed deep in the right-field stands.
Dansby Swanson’s two-run double in the first were the only runs allowed in four innings by Yankees starter Andrew Heaney.
Morton (12-5) allowed four runs and six hits in five innings. He had nine strikeouts. Morton allowed only one homer in his first four August starts before facing the Yankees.
Clay Holmes (2-0), the third of six Yankees relievers, earned the win with a scoreless inning.
Atlanta’s Joc Pederson was ejected by plate umpire Chris Conroy after striking out on an inside pitch to end the fourth with runners on first and second. Pederson fell to the ground and then argued he was hit on his hand by Heaney’s pitch. Conroy held firm after conferring with third-base umpire Bill Welke.
The Braves fell to 6-14 in interleague games, including a 1-9 record in Atlanta.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Boone said surgery “could be in play” for reliever Zack Britton (strained left elbow). Boone said Britton is “still kind of gathering opinions” and will see Dr. Neal ElAttrache next week when the team is at the Los Angeles Angels. … 3B Gio Urshela (left hamstring) could meet the team in Oakland after possibly completing his rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset. … SS Gleyber Torres (sprained left thumb) is working at Somerset to prepare for a possible rehab assignment next week. … RHP Corey Kluber (right shoulder strain) had his rehab assignment transferred to Somerset and is “getting ready to get back in the mix” according to Boone.
UP NEXT
Yankees: RHP Jameson Taillon (8-4, 3.94 ERA) is scheduled to start when New York opens a series against RHP James Kaprielian (7-4, 3.25) at Oakland on Thursday night following an off day on Wednesday.
Braves: Following their first scheduled back-to-back off days not included in the All-Star break in at least 30 years, the Braves will resume their five-game homestand against San Francisco on Friday when LHP Max Fried (11-7, 3.49 ERA) is scheduled to start.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports