Yankees drop third straight series as Atlanta’s Max Fried defeats Nestor Cortes

NEW YORK — On a sweltering Sunday afternoon in the Bronx, the New York Yankees’ offense went cold against Atlanta ace Max Fried.

And even though starter Nestor Cortes stayed hot at home, it wasn’t enough for the Yankees to avoid a 3-1 loss or a third straight series loss.

With a heat advisory in effect and temperatures in the mid-90s, Fried used his mid-90s fastball and a variety of breaking pitches to navigate the Yankees’ batting order. The lanky lefty held the Yankees to one run in six innings and improved to 3-0 in three career starts against them.

Hours after slugger Giancarlo Stanton was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain, the Yankees managed just three hits and no runs in the first five innings against Fried.

The Yankees threatened in the sixth inning, when Trent Grisham’s leadoff single and Anthony Volpe’s RBI double cut the deficit to 3-1 with no outs. But Volpe was thrown out at third base on a fielder’s choice right out of Juan Soto, and Alex Verdugo hit a late-inning double play two batters later to extinguish the rally.

Fried, who finished second in voting for the NL Cy Young Award in 2022, struck out four — including Aaron Judge twice — and did not allow a walk. The 30-year-old is in the midst of another excellent season in his walk year, improving to 7-3 on Sunday with a 3.00 ERA.

Soto was pulled in the eighth inning after home plate umpire Chris Conroy gave him no time. Soto turned his back as reliever Joe Jiménez threw a third strike, provoking an unsuccessful argument from Soto.

Cortes, meanwhile, held Atlanta to three runs in seven innings, striking out seven. It fell to 4-6.

Jarred Kelenic’s solo homer in the third inning just cleared the Yankee Stadium wall in right center to give the Braves a 1-0 lead. Kelenic added a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning and Ozzie Albies delivered a two-out RBI single a batter later to complete the scoring against Cortes.

Cortes’ ERA at Yankee Stadium this season increased slightly to 1.84, compared to 5.57 on the road. The left-hander has pitched at least six innings in each of his last three starts and has not allowed a walk in the last two.

The Yankees (52-28) lost the series opener Friday night, 8-1, to Atlanta (43-32) before rebounding with an 8-3 victory Saturday night.

But Sunday’s loss has become a cliché for the Yankees, who also lost two of three games in Boston the previous weekend and to the Orioles at home last week. The Yankees had not lost two consecutive series before this streak.

The Yankees have now lost four of their last five series, having also lost two of three at home against the Dodgers from June 7-9 before taking three of four against the Royals in Kansas City.

Stanton’s injury dealt another blow to a Yankees lineup that is expected to be without Anthony Rizzo (broken forearm) for about two months. Center fielder Grisham and rookie first baseman Ben Rice, who effectively replaced Stanton and Rizzo in the Yankees’ lineup, both went 2-for-3 on Sunday.

The Yankees are off Monday, then return to action Tuesday night to kick off a two-game Subway Series at Citi Field. Gerrit Cole (0-0, 4.50 ERA) is expected to make his second start of the season after recovering from elbow inflammation, while David Peterson (3-0, 3.97 ERA) is expected to pitch for the Mets .

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