GAME 128

YANKEES 3, BRAVES 1

With veteran left-hander CC Sabathia on the disabled list with recurring pain in his right knee the Yankees have had to place a lot a of trust in 21-year-old rookie right-hander Luis Severino. After seeing the way he pitched on Saturday at Turner Field it looks as if he is going to be just fine.

Severino pitched six innings of shutout baseball and Didi Gregorius and Brian McCann doubled in runs in the seventh and eight innings, respectively, as New York downed Atlanta for the second straight day.

Severino (2-2) held the Braves to four hits and three walks while he struck out five in six innings to earn his second straight victory.

Meanwhile, the Yankees opened the scoring on rookie right-hander Matt Wisler in the first inning.

Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a double and, two outs later, Wisler issued walks to McCann and Greg Bird. With Chase Headley at the plate behind on a 0-2 count, Wisler uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Ellsbury to score to give the Yankees an early 1-0 lead.

Then Severino and Wisler matched zeroes for the rest of the evening until the seventh inning when Headley led off the frame with his third double of the series  –  a ball that center-fielder Cameron Maybin misjudged.

Gregorius, who drove in a career-high six runs in a 15-4 rout of the Braves on Friday, chased Wisler from the game with an RBI double into right-field to score Headley with what proved to be the game-winning run.

Wisler (5-5) was charged with two runs on four hits and four walks with four strikeouts in six-plus innings.

The Braves managed to halve the lead in the bottom of seventh when Christian Betancourt and Andrelton Simmons opened the inning against left-hander Justin Wilson with a pair of singles.

Pinch-hitter Michael Bourn then hit a ground ball to Bird at first. Bird retired Simmons on a throw to Gregorius at second, but Wilson dropped his relay to first base and Bethancourt scored on the error.

But the Yankees were able to add an insurance run in the eighth inning off right-hander Edwin Jackson when Carlos Beltran was issued a leadoff walk and McCann scored pinch-runner Chris Young with a booming double to the wall in right-center.

Right-hander Dellin Betances pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief and left-hander Andrew Miller struck out two in a perfect ninth to earn his 28th save in 29 chances this season.

With the victory the Yankees ran their season mark to 71-57 and they remain 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East. The Braves dropped to 54-75.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

• Severino was far from perfect in his six innings and faced three innings in which the Braves put two men on. However, his poise allowed him to get out of the first by getting Nick Swisher on an inning-ending double play. He ended the fourth by striking out Betancourt swinging and in the sixth he induced Jace Peterson into a groundout. In his five starts, Severino has a dazzling 2.17 ERA and he has 29 strikeouts in his 29 innings.
• In his past three games, Gregorius is 7-for-13 (.539) with a homer and nine RBIs. The 25-year-old shortstop is simply settling in after perhaps pressing too much early knowing that he was replacing a legend in Derek Jeter.
• McCann is providing offense at a time that Mark Teixeira is injured and Alex Rodriguez is only available to pinch-hit in the National League ballpark. His RBI double in the eight gives him a team-leading 80 RBIs this season. Teixeira has 79. In his two games back in Atlanta he is 2-for-5 (.400) with a homer, a double, four walks, three runs scored and five RBIs.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

• After Severino left, the Braves jumped on Wilson and Betances for an unearned run, four hits and a walk in two innings. Fortunately, Betances was able to wriggle out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the seventh by retiring Freddie Freeman on a ground ball that Betances fielded by sticking his glove behind his back. Betances also ended a two-on, two-out threat in the eighth by striking out Simmons looking. The Braves stranded 10 runners. That is not good relief pitching really.

BOMBER BANTER

A man who fell from the upper deck of Turner Field in the seventh inning of Saturday’s game was pronounced dead later in the evening. The Braves announced that Gregory Murrey, 60, of Alpharetta, GA, was pronounced dead at Fulton County Medical Center. Murrey, a longtime Braves season-ticket holder, fell from the upper deck to the lower bowl behind home plate as Rodriguez was coming up to the plate with two on and one out in the seventh inning. Braves security personnel ruled out foul play but authorities are waiting an autopsy.

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