A rough first inning cost Yankees left-hander Ryan Weathers dearly, as he gave up four runs in the first period during the Bombers’ 7-6 loss to the Atlanta Braves Friday afternoon at CoolToday Park in North Port. Things got interesting in the ninth, however.
Atlanta reached the final inning with a 7-1 lead, but Tyler Hardman singled with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth to score two runs, then Garrett Martin threw a three-shot bomb to put the Yankees at one. However, after Ornelas’ blast, the Bombers were unable to do any more damage, as Owen Cobb lined out, Jorbit Vivas struck out, and while Ernesto Martínez Jr. singled, Kenedy Corona came out to shortstop to end the game.
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The Yankees are now 13-7 in the Grapefruit League, while the Braves improved to 13-5 with their victory. New York just couldn’t touch Atlanta starter Didier Fuentes, who pitched three perfect innings with five strikeouts to his name. The right-hander made his debut for the Braves last year and won’t even turn 21 until June, and as they will now enter the season without the injured Spencer Schwellenbach, AJ Smith-Shawver, Hurston Waldrep and Joey Wentz, he has certainly made a case to new skipper Walt Weiss that he should have a role on the 2026 club.
New York’s starter didn’t fare as well. Mauricio Dubón welcomed Weathers to Atlanta’s spring home with a leadoff home run. Later in the first, the left-hander gave up RBI singles to Austin Riley, Jonah Heim and Kyle Farmer to make it 4-0 before he was able to complete the first three outs.
After that, Weathers settled in and pitched 2.2 scoreless frames with four punchouts before being relieved in the fourth. He touched 100 mph with his four-seamer and averaged 98.4 mph, but could only whiff one whiff on 13 swings with the throw.
Weathers’ sweeper, however, was on point, allowing him to win seven whiffs on 10 swings for a 70 percent whiff rate. The change gave him three more swings and misses to round his total for the afternoon to 11. Weathers, whose spring training ERA is now 8.68, managed to stretch out on 67 pitches. He seems to have hit a wall, but as long as his stuff and speed continue to increase, there should be no reason to worry about him. Barring injury, Weathers should slot somewhere behind Max Fried and Cam Schlittler at the back of the Yankees’ Opening Day rotation, with Will Warren and Luis Gil likely joining him.
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The Yankees finally scored in the top of the fourth, when Max Schuemann doubled and crossed home plate on a Cody Bellinger single off Dylan Dodd.
It was Bellinger’s only hit of the day, and it was a hit for the more familiar Bombers contingent. Ryan McMahon (playing clean shortstop) and outfielders Trent Grisham, Oswaldo Cabrera and Randal Grichuk combined to go 0 for 11 with six Ks.
Although none of the Yankees’ bullpen are expected to be on the Opening Day roster today, they fared pretty well this afternoon. Kelly Austin had Ozzie Albies struck out and was followed by an impressive Yovanny Cruz, who hit 101.5 mph and retired two marquee names – Matt Olson and Austin Riley – in a perfect inning. From there, things got a little bumpier, as Dom Hamel allowed a few runs in two innings of relief, giving up five hits and a walk without managing to record a single strikeout. Osvaldo Bido conceded the Braves’ seventh run late in the game.
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The Yankees will play again on Saturday, as they return home to George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa to take on the Philadelphia Phillies, starting at 1:05 p.m. ET. Max Fried will be at the helm of the Bombers in preparation for his opening day start. In the meantime, if you’re interested in World Baseball Classic action, Austin Wells and the Dominican Republic take on Korea tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET on FS2, while Aaron Judge and Team USA take on Canada at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
