Marcus Stroman allowed one run and three hits in his return to the New York Yankees‘ starting rotation, pitching five innings in a 12-5 win over the Athletics on Sunday.
Stroman threw 74 pitches, 42 for strikes, and walked two batters. The lone run he allowed came on a Willie MacIver home run in the fifth inning, leaving an 87.4 mph sinker up in the strike zone after a 10-pitch battle.
“I thought he was terrific,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the game. “A little bit unknown going out there with his build-up and everything, coming off a tough one [in his last minor-league rehab start]. I thought he got after it really good.”
“Got pitches where he needed to, I thought he had a presence on both sides of the plate,” he continued. “He was a little unpredictable, used his sinker, used his cutter and the different kind of breaking balls.”
Stroman made his first start since April 11, after which he went on the injured list with left knee inflammation. Prior to that, he didn’t pitch well in his first three appearances of the season, accumulating an 11.57 ERA with 12 hits and seven walks in 9 1/3 innings.
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He suffered a setback with discomfort in the knee while throwing batting practice on May 9, which delayed a minor-league rehab assignment until June 11. Stroman didn’t pitch particularly well in three rehab starts, compiling a 6.97 ERA. That raised some concern as to how he might perform upon returning to the Yankees’ rotation. But Sunday’s outing may have eased any anxieties there.
Though he didn’t need the help, Stroman received plenty of run support from his lineup, scoring six runs versus Athletics starter Luis Severino.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. provided the early offense with a second-inning home run and two-run triple in the third. Aaron Judge added two more runs in the fourth with his 29th homer of the season. And Cody Bellinger hit a three-run shot to give the Yankees a 10-1 lead when Stroman was finished.
The Athletics roughed up reliever JT Brubaker in the sixth, putting four consecutive runners on base and scoring two runs. Brubaker helped out by hitting Max Muncy and walking Tyler Soderstrom, followed by the Athletics adding two more runs on RBI groundouts from Luis Urías and Denzel Clarke.
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Brubaker lasted only one-third of an inning, allowing four runs with three walks and two hits.
However, the Yankees had too big a lead to overcome. Bellinger finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and Chisholm batted 2-for-3, driving in four runs. He also made several nice defensive plays at third base. Judge added his 30th homer in the eighth inning, going 2-for-4 with four RBI. He’s now two behind MLB leader Cal Raleigh in homers as the All-Star break approaches.
With the win, the Yankees (48-35) maintained first place in the AL East and boosted their lead to 1.5 games after the Tampa Bay Rays’ 5-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.
