Marcus Stroman had been something of a godsend for the Yankees’ injury-ravaged rotation.
After returning last month from left knee inflammation, Stroman hurled at least five solid innings in four consecutive starts, culminating in a season-best outing in Atlanta last weekend.
But Stroman failed to keep his steady streak alive on Saturday afternoon, struggling with his command in a 9-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies in the Bronx.
The right-hander surrendered four runs on five hits and four walks over 3.2 innings in front of a sellout crowd of 46,621. All four walks occurred in the fourth inning, including a bases-loaded free pass to No. 9 hitter Johan Rojas to force in a run.
Stroman also threw a wild pitch in that inning, during which the Phillies scored twice. They could have scored more, had reliever Yerry De los Santos — in his return from elbow discomfort — not gotten Bryce Harper to ground out with the bases loaded to end the frame.
The 34-year-old Stroman was dinged as well by J.T. Realmuto’s first-inning RBI single and Harper’s third-inning solo home run, which traveled 425 feet into the right-field stands.
Stroman’s struggles compounded an all-around rough afternoon for the Yankees (56-48), who were without superstar slugger Aaron Judge due to an elbow issue.
Judge underwent imaging on Saturday morning, four days after he was seen wincing on a throw from right field during Tuesday’s win in Toronto.
The Yankees were still awaiting the results of the imaging before Saturday’s game.
Judge was the designated hitter Wednesday, and the Yankees were off Thursday. Judge returned to right field for Friday night’s 12-5 loss to the Phillies but experienced trouble throwing, manager Aaron Boone said.
Saturday’s game was the first that Judge missed this season. He started all but one of the Yankees’ previous 103 games and appeared in the other as a pinch-hitter.
Without Judge — who leads MLB hitters in batting average (.342), on-base percentage (.449) and slugging percentage (.711) — the Yankees didn’t manage much on offense.
Jasson Domínguez’s fourth-inning RBI single accounted for the only damage against left-handed Phillies starter Ranger Suárez, who limited the Yankees to one run over 5.2 innings and struck out eight.
The Phillies (60-44), meanwhile, tacked on four runs against Allan Winans in the seventh inning, during which a Jazz Chisholm Jr. fielding error preceded a two-run double by Kyle Schwarber.
It was the fifth game in a row that the Yankees committed at least one error. They have 10 errors over that stretch.
Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run home run against reliever Daniel Robert in the bottom of the seventh. Stanton, who did not make his season debut until mid-June due to tennis elbow in both arms, now has seven homers, all in the last 16 games.
In his Yankees debut, third baseman Ryan McMahon went 1-for-3 with a single, a walk and a pair of strikeouts. On defense, the slick-fielding McMahon made a diving stop near the foul line, then lasered a throw across the diamond to rob Otto Kemp of an eighth-inning extra-base hit.
The Yankees acquired the lefty-swinging McMahon, a 2024 All-Star, on Friday in a trade with the Colorado Rockies for a pair of pitching prospects.
The Yankees will attempt to avoid a three-game sweep on Sunday afternoon, with Carlos Rodón (10-7, 3.10 ERA) set to start against Phillies ace Zack Wheeler (9-3, 2.39 ERA).
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