PHILADELPHIA — The next time the Yankees take the field, their roster may have changed for the third day in a row.
But the tactics the Yankees deployed on Monday night before the trade deadline looked strong enough against the National League’s best teams to lead the team to their first three-game winning streak in more than a month.
Of course, during what manager Aaron Boone described as a “challenging time” for his players, the Yankees had one constant: Aaron Judge, who hit his 38th and 39th home runs of the year.
But Judge again got plenty of help from a deep and increasingly dangerous lineup, leading the team to a 14-4 win over the Phillies, this time in front of a sellout crowd at Citizens Bank Park.
The Yankees (63-45) hit a season-high six home runs on Monday, three off Phillies ace Zack Wheeler, and have now run 40 in their last four games.
That includes their first three-game winning streak since winning four straight from June 9-12 just before the start of a six-week break.
Jazz Chisholm Jr., starting at third base in just his second game with the team and for the first time in his professional career, hit two home runs (one off a fielder), the first for a Yankee.
Ben Rice hit the first home run of the second half, and a buoyed Austin Wells hit a two-run triple to eject Wheeler.
Anthony Volpe hit a two-run homer, his third in the last seven games and ending a 56-game homer streak without one.
And Judge’s co-star, Juan Soto, added two doubles and three RBIs on another mediocre night.
Giancarlo Stanton (0-for-4, walked) was quiet in his return from a hamstring injury, but was the only Yankees starter to not get a hit, although the team combined for 14 hits.
The Phillies (65-41) were suddenly in trouble after losing their ninth of 13 games on Monday, but the Yankees tried to get out of trouble even more at the expense of the Phillies.
It was good for the Yankees to get two wins over the Red Sox at Fenway Park over the weekend, but when talking about momentum, we need to keep in mind the fact that they face the team that leads the National League in ERA on Monday.
And they went after Wheeler, giving up seven runs and seven hits in five innings against the right-hander who has a 2.55 ERA in 20 starts.
The scoring support was more than enough for Luis Gil, who struck out eight batters and allowed just three runs in 5 1/3 innings.
