After a slow start Calvin Ridley Jersey , Giancarlo Stanton has been on a roll for the Yankees.

But he also said there’s another gear he can kick into, too.

Stanton hit a three-run homer, CC Sabathia pitched six effective innings, and the Yankees beat the Atlanta Braves 6-2 on Wednesday.

Rookie second baseman Gleyber Torres left the game in the top of the fifth inning because of tightness in his right hip and afterward was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a right hip strain.

”We’re hoping it’s a short stint. But we think we’ve got to deal with it this time because there is a small strain there,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said outside the home clubhouse after the game.

”Hopefully it won’t be something that it’s too long. Probably take us up to the All-Star break.”

After struggling in his first two months of his debut season in the Bronx, including three games at the end of March, Stanton managed just 11 homers and hit .245.

He settled in and improved in June with eight homers and a .298 average.

”Yeah I can always get better. So yeah, I got to put it together but there’s some balls that I’ve hit hard that could have been in the air, been better,” said Stanton, who’s 6 for 18 (.333) with two home runs and five RBIs through the first four games of July.

”But that’s talking millimeters of (a) difference here. But in terms of in the box, I feel very close.”

Aaron Judge added his 24th homer of the season in the seventh inning. He’s now homered in three of his past four games.

Catcher Kyle Higashioka also homered for the Yankees, becoming the ninth player since 1920 whose first three hits were home runs. Colorado’s Trevor Story homered for his first four big league hits on April 4-6, 2016.

The 28-year-old, who’s spent most of his first 10 professional seasons in the minors, except for a nine-game hitless stint last season Youth Atlanta Falcons Jerseys , was surprised at what he’s been able to accomplish since his promotion June 25.

”I wouldn’t have thought that my first three hits in the major leagues would be homers, but the most important thing here is winning,” Higashioka said.

Sabathia (6-3) followed his impressive showing last Friday against Boston, the team with the best record in baseball, working out of a couple of jams for the Yankees, who have won six of their past eight after getting swept in three games at Tampa.

National League East-leading Atlanta loaded the bases with two outs in the first, but the 37-year-old struck out 20-year-old phenom Ronald Acuna Jr. on an 88 mph cutter.

”That’s a good lineup. They have a very good team, some good hitters,” Sabathia said. ”Even when I felt I was in control I still had to make pitches. They made me work today.”

The Braves have lost their past two games.

New York took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Greg Bird’s RBI single off Atlanta starter Julio Teheran (6-6), who lasted just five innings, allowing five hits and five runs. He walked four and struck out 10.

The Yankees got to Teheran again in the third.

With a runner on first and two outs, Aaron Hicks walked. Stanton then fell behind 0-2 before hitting a line drive to the right field bleachers for his 21st homer of the season to make it 4-0.

After retiring the first two batters in the fourth, Teheran fell behind 2-0 against Higashioka before the rookie connected to the left field stands, extending the lead to 5-0.

”You can’t make mistakes to this team,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. ”The way that ball flies around in right center and over, it’s just dangerous. That’s why they are who they are. In spurts Devin Hester Bears Jersey , he threw the ball really well.”

The Braves cut the deficit to 5-1 on an RBI grounder from Danny Santana with one out in the fifth. Johan Camargo hit his ninth home run of the season with two outs in the sixth that made it 5-2. But Sabathia limited the damage by retiring Dansby Swanson on a grounder to second with a runner aboard.

Atlanta failed to take advantage in the seventh inning against reliever Chad Green when its first two batters reached on a pair of singles. Green then got three fly outs to end the threat.

PUT ME IN COACH

With New York set to play 11 games in 10 days, beginning Friday at Toronto, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he wanted to be ”greedy” with Thursday being their only day off, and held Austin Romine out of the starting lineup for the fourth consecutive day. Higashioka started for the fourth straight time behind the plate.

The Yankees have been short-handed at catcher since Romine left the game on June 29 against Boston in the seventh inning because of a tight left hamstring. Gary Sanchez has been on the 10-day disabled list since June 25 because of a strained right groin.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Braves: 1B Freddie Freeman, who was hit by a pitch in the third inning, left the game after the fourth because of a contusion in his right upper arm. He expects to be back in the lineup Thursday in Milwaukee.

”I tried to go down in the cage and swing and pretty much topped the ball off the tee,” Freeman said. ”I couldn’t really extend the arm going through the zone. I had no strength. It just kind of swelled up and it looks like a baseball on my tricep right now.”

WELCOME BACK

LHP Luiz Gohara, the No. 3 prospect in the Atlanta organization, arrived about 90 minutes before the first pitch after he was called up from Triple-A Gwinnett for the second time this season. RHP Evan Phillips, who threw 2 1/3 innings Tuesday night, was sent down to Trip Lars Eller scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:37 to play, and the Washington Capitals raised the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history after a 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5.

Devante Smith-Pelly tied it with a full-stretch goal midway through the final period of the Capitals’ fourth consecutive victory over the Golden Knights, whose incredible expansion season finally ended in the desert.

So did the Capitals’ agonizing wait for their first championship since the franchise’s debut in 1974. After so many years of postseason flops and crushing disappointment, these Capitals won their fourth consecutive closeout game with a tenacious third-period comeback.

Captain Alex Ovechkin, who scored an early power-play goal, and his teammates are Washington’s first championship hockey team – and the city’s first champion in a major pro sport since the Redskins won the Super Bowl in early 1992.

Ovechkin won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP after scoring his franchise-record 15th goal of the postseason.

PRO FOOTBALL

Terrell Owens will not attend the induction ceremony for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August Seahawks Shaquem Griffin Jersey , an unprecedented decision by an enshrinee.

Owens was voted into the hall in February. In a statement released by his publicist, Owens says: ”While I am incredibly appreciative of this opportunity, I have made the decision to publicly decline my invitation to attend the induction ceremony in Canton.”

The hall confirmed that the former All-Pro receiver informed them he would not be on hand Aug. 4 for the enshrinements. Owens added, ”After visiting Canton earlier this year, I came to the realization that I wish to celebrate what will be one of the most memorable days of my life, elsewhere. At a later date, I will announce where and when I will celebrate my induction.”

Owens heavily criticized the voting process when he failed to be elected to the hall in his first two years of eligibility.

PRO BASKETBALL

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Bryan Colangelo resigned as president of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers in the wake of what an investigation found was ”careless and in some instances reckless” sharing of sensitive team information.

The independent review by a law firm did not determine that Colangelo operated or was even aware of Twitter accounts that anonymously trashed some of his own players and fellow executives, and defended him against criticism from fans and the sports media.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP said evidence supported the conclusion that Colangelo’s wife, Barbara Bottini, operated the four accounts it investigated, and she admitted to doing so – though also said she deleted contents of her iPhone with a factory reset of the device prior to surrendering it for forensic review, limiting the investigation.

As for Colangelo, there was no evidence he knew of the accounts before a May 22 inquiry from the sports website The Ringer for a story it reported linking him to five Twitter accounts that took aim at Philadelphia players Joel Embiid and Markelle Fultz Natrell Jamerson Jersey Elite , former Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie, Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri and former Sixers players Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – New Orleans Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry has agreed to a two-year extension running through the 2020-21 season.

The Pelicans already had informed Gentry going into the playoffs that the club would exercise his option through next season. Now he’s under contract two additional seasons under the extension announced by the club on Thursday afternoon.

Gentry has gone 117-138 in three seasons, including this season’s playoffs, when the Pelicans swept Portland before losing a second-round season 4-1 to defending champion Golden State.

New Orleans missed the playoffs in Gentry’s first two seasons, during which the team dealt with a spate of injuries to key players.

GOLF

Tiger Woods will play the opening two rounds of the U.S. Open with Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson, which feels like a grouping of Nos. 1-2-3 in the world ranking. Except that Woods is No. 80.

The USGA released its tee times for the U.S. Open next week at Shinnecock Hills, and it offered two stacked groups for the morning and afternoon.

Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy tee off together in the morning of the first round. Woods, Johnson and Thomas are together in the afternoon.

This is the 10-year anniversary of the USGA first putting together the Nos. 1-2-3 players in the world at Torrey Pines – Woods, Mickelson and Adam Scott.

HORSE RACING

NEW YORK (AP) – Triple Crown contender Justify glided over the track in his first trip over the Belmont Park strip.

The strapping chestnut colt is the odds-on favorite to complete the series sweep on Saturday in the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes following victories in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.

Justify arrived here Wednesday afternoon after a flight from Kentucky. Bob Baffert, his Hall of Fame trainer, was delighted with how well the horse handled the shipping and the unfamiliar surroundings on an overcast morning. Justify went 1 3/8 miles, keen and eager as he flashed by the grandstand.

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