ATLANTA — The Yankees’ baserunning has cost them on a number of occasions lately, with Harrison Bader being the latest offender on Monday night.
In a game the Yankees trailed by six runs, Bader singled with two outs in the sixth inning against Braves left-hander Max Fried.
But Bader then took the bat out of DJ LeMahieu’s hands by getting picked off at first by Fried, who is known for having one of the better pickoff moves in the game.
“That can’t happen there,” manager Aaron Boone said after the 11-3 loss at Truist Park. “When you’re down what we were — the one thing about it is he’s working his butt off over there, but you can’t get caught in that situation obviously.”
Bader indicated that he wasn’t going anywhere on the pitch, but he was caught leaning too far off the bag.
The Yankees challenged, but upon replay review, the call on the field stood.
“Regardless of how close I may have been, regardless of how good his balk move was, you just can’t get picked off there,” Bader said. “I take full responsibility for that. Had a talk about it underneath [in the tunnel]. If it means standing 2 feet off the base, then so be it.
“A little too aggressive out there. Regardless of the situation, you can’t get picked off there. That was on me.”
Asked if he thought Fried balked since he called it a “balk move,” Bader said he didn’t know.
“The same thing you can say about balls or strikes or a balk move or no balk move, it’s what the umpires call,” he said.
The Yankees have now been picked off 12 times this season, which is the fifth-most in the majors.
Ian Hamilton (2 ²/₃ innings, no runs) and Albert Abreu (three innings, three runs) mopped up Clarke Schmidt’s mess on Monday to save the rest of the bullpen.
Still, it’s possible the Yankees may have to make a move to call up a pitcher before Tuesday’s game for protection in the bullpen with the struggling Luis Severino starting.
“We’ll see,” Boone said.
Jhony Brito could be optioned to Triple-A to open a roster spot.
The Yankees have two off days coming up, meaning they could skip Brito’s spot in the rotation with Carlos Rodon potentially returning next week.
LeMahieu returned to the lineup Monday after missing four games with right calf tightness.
He went 1-for-3 with a strikeout.
“Hopefully we’re through it and good to go, but yeah, probably keep an extra eye on him,” Boone said.
Anthony Rizzo did some light running in the outfield on Monday at Truist Park, the most activity he has done since landing on the injured list with post-concussion syndrome on Aug. 3. T
he veteran first baseman is expected to work out again on Tuesday before flying back to New York for more testing and then rejoining the Yankees on Friday in The Bronx.
Derek Jeter is about to be a first-time Old-Timer.
The Yankees’ Hall of Fame shortstop will make his Old-Timer’s Day debut on Sept. 9 in The Bronx, one of 29 members of the 1998 team that will be in attendance to mark the 25th anniversary of their World Series championship.
This year’s event will not feature a game, but it will include the traditional Old-Timers’ Day introductions and a new roundtable Q&A discussion led by Suzyn Waldman, John Sterling and Michael Kay.
Other notable former Yankees set to attend the event include Mariano Rivera, Joe Torre, Ron Guidry, Tino Martinez, Paul O’Neill, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Willlie Randolph.
One of the Braves’ ironmen lost his streak on Monday, when Ozzie Albies was out of the lineup for the first time this season because of a tight hamstring.
But Matt Olson, Austin Riley and Ronald Acuna Jr. were all starting for the 118th time in the Braves’ 118th game.
“That’s pretty amazing,” Boone said. “Now, when you look at it, all those guys are in their 20s and in the prime of their career. So it’s feasible, but I think in today’s game, that’s pretty impressive.”
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