Yankees outslug mistakes, power their way to a huge win at Atlanta

ATLANTA – One undeniable Yankee trait is an ability cover up mistakes with a few power swings.

That’s not a recipe for sustained success, nor does it paint a full picture of how the Yankees erased two five-run deficits Saturday and emerged with a 12-9 victory against the troubled Atlanta Braves.

On the visiting side, there was a lot to feel good about before a sellout crowd at Truist Park as Anthony Volpe’s second homer of the night – a solo shot – tied it in the eighth.

Trent Grisham’s two-out, grand slam in the ninth off closer Raisel Iglesias gave the Yankees their first lead of the night, and put the exclamation point on a wild night.

“I think it’s big for us moving forward,’’ said Grisham, feeling that comeback win “encouraged everybody that we’re in every game. That we have a lot of fight.’’

Because at times, Saturday, the fight seemed uphill – with Will Warren failing to complete four innings and making a mental error that cost his team a run.

Until Luke Weaver’s key five outs late in the game, relievers Scott Effross and the confounding Jonathan Loaisiga were brutally ineffective – yet more evidence of the bullpen help that’s desperately needed by the July 31 MLB trade deadline.

After his 3.2-inning stint ended, YES Network cameras caught Warren jabbing the dugout roof with his pitching hand and looking at it, though he later said he was fine.

As for his start, it “felt like I was cruising’’ into the fourth inning, with two out, when a one-run deficit suddenly became a 5-0 mess.

Warren regretted a walk to Sean Murphy that set up a three-run homer by Ozzie Albies, having a substandard season until the Yanks arrived (Albies has two homers and nine RBI since Friday).

An extra run scored three batters later as Warren neglected to cover first base on Nick Allen’s right side grounder, with Nacho Alvarez Jr. scoring from second base on that infield hit.

It’s the kind of confounding inattention – defensively and on the bases – you’ve seen from the Yankees time and again, with promises to button it up.

“I didn’t get over and they got an extra run out of it,’’ said Warren, who had thrown 19 pitches to the last two batters he faced – including a walk to Michael Harris in an 11-pitch at-bat.

That fatigue “is where you can make some mental mistakes and a split second probably cost him,’’ said manager Aaron Boone, adding that “we’ve got to react right away.’’

It was also “a bit of a weird play,’’ since the right-side defense was shaded toward second base, forcing first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to field the ball far to his right.

Still, it falls into the same “can’t happen’’ bin as Jorbit Vivas’ inattentive tag from second base, getting himself thrown out at third in Friday night’s 7-3 loss to the Braves.

This time, the Yankees were able to slug back against six Braves relievers, starting with Volpe’s two-run homer in the fifth, a wear-down four-run sixth, a Cody Bellinger solo homer in the seventh and Volpe’s euphoric game-tying shot.

The outside noise about Volpe’s inconsistent defense and .668 OPS might have reached a crescendo, but it “doesn’t come close to the standard I hold myself to,’’ Volpe said in his understated manner.

For Boone, it was “a lot of tough, gritty at-bats, keeping the pressure’’ on Atlanta’s relievers that gave the Yanks their first post All-Star break win.

“Well, vacation is over indeed,’’ said Weaver, alluding to his adrenaline-spiked, script-changing appearance after some rough and inconsistent outings since his return from the injured list.

We'll borrow it as a good metaphor, too, for a team that seemed in need of a jolt.

Yankees’ Cam Schlittler to start at Toronto

Following a bout with upper arm soreness, Yankees’ rookie Cam Schlittler is scheduled to make his second big-league start Tuesday at Toronto.

Max Fried (blister) is penciled in for Wednesday's series finale against the Blue Jays.

Schlittler said the discomfort between starts was “a little more than usual, nothing serious,’’ though it was enough for him to alert the team six days after his July 9 debut.

The right-hander was sent for an MRI on Wednesday, and “everything was clean, just a little bit of inflammation,’’ said Schlittler, who planned to throw a normal bullpen Saturday.

Schlittler said his bout of arm soreness began Sunday (a day after a bullpen session), four days after his 75-pitch debut, going 5.1 innings and getting a win against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium.

“I think being around the team in spring training helped, I didn’t feel nervous,’’ said Schlittler, now set to face the AL East-leading Blue Jays at the hostile Rogers Centre.

“Just excited to get back on the mound.’’

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Yankees outslug mistakes, power their way to a huge win at Atlanta