Yankees lineup does the job to support Gerrit Cole in second straight win over Braves

For several weeks now, as a touching tribute not to this year’s Old-Timers but to their descendants, the Yankees have been play-acting as if part of the Dead Ball Era. They haven’t given up runs.They have had to fight and claw and grind and occasionally induce a balk to score their own.  Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.

With the legends of the franchise’s past watching, perhaps the 2026 Yankees began to swing their way into the Modern Era. The Yankees’ lineup exploded — a term we do not use loosely, considering the past month-plus of ineptitude — for eight hits, a pair of home runs and just enough offense to come away with a 5-4 victory over Chris Sale and the Braves in front of 45,222 in The Bronx on Saturday afternoon. The Yankees (66-51), who have seen 18 of their past 24 games get decided by one or two runs, will try to sweep a series against the class of the NL East on Sunday and remain in front of the Red Sox for the top wild-card spot. Gerrit Cole (seven innings, two runs) continued what has been a remarkable run for Yankees starting pitchers, who sport a 1.67 ERA (64 ⅔ innings, 12 earned runs) in their past 11 games. But Cole was dented in the fifth inning, which meant he needed a bit of support.He found it mostly through a pair of rookies who are untested but have undeniable ability. Spencer Jones and George Lombard Jr.

finished a combined 4-for-6 with two walks, a homer, a triple, three runs scored and three RBIs.The rest of the Yankees’ lineup went 4-for-24. The game was ultimately decided in the fifth, in which the Braves tagged Cole for two runs in the top half of the inning to take a 2-1 edge before the Yankees provided an immediate answer. Lombard — who seemingly does everything well — briefly struck out twice to lead off the frame, but in both instances he used challenges to earn balls three and four of the plat...