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NEW YORK — Hours before the Atlanta Braves took the field at Yankee Stadium http://www.seahawksauthorizedshops.com/authentic-rashaad-penny-jersey , as an air conditioning vent blew cold air inside a sweltering third base dugout, manager Brian Snitker admitted he did not think the youth would come together so quickly this season.

Snitker thought the Braves would do well but not necessarily possess the best record in the National League.

About 6 1/2 hours later, the Braves wrapped up another win due to some youthful contributions and on Tuesday they can become the first team in the National League to reach 50 victories when they continue a three-game series with the New York Yankees.

The Braves are on a four-game winning streak and 31-19 against opponents with winning records after Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning off David Robertson to give Atlanta a 5-3 victory.

“We’re ahead of where we thought we’d be,” Snitker said before the Braves upped the NL’s best record to 49-34. “Going into the season, I don’t think we expected to be sitting here on July 2 in first place.

“We all felt we were going to do really good. In all honesty with where we were with our club and are, we’ve kind of surpassed what everybody thought the first of March where we’d be. We’re a probably a better team than what we thought we were.”

Among the youthful players is Acuna, who at 20 years, 196 days is the youngest Atlanta rookie to hit a game-winning homer in extra innings since Andruw Jones (20 years, three days) did it April 26, 1997, against the San Diego Padres.

Acuna is batting .274 with seven homers and 18 RBIs in 33 games. He also owns six RBIs in extra innings, second most behind 21-year-old Ozzie Albies. The Braves also are 9-3 when he drives in a run.

“I’m never really nervous in those situations, my adrenaline kind of helps out,” Acuna said through an interpreter before adding he could never remember feeling nervous on the field.”

The Yankees (54-28) are 4-6 in their last 10 games after going 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position and striking out 12 times.

“We want to put them out there more often than not,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “More often than not we’ll come through in those situations.”

Aaron Judge hit his 23rd homer and walked twice but also couldn’t complete the leaping catch on Acuna’s homer.

“I felt it hit my glove,” Judge said. “It didn’t go in. They got two runs. It was a tough play.”

Judge and the Yankees have only lost a series three times since April 19 and are 45-19 in their last 64 games. They will attempt to do so after extensive use of their bullpen trying to win Monday’s game.

Aroldis Chapman, David Robertson, Dellin Betances, Chad Green and Jonathan Holder combined for seven innings and threw 114 pitches.

“Obviously we went through a lot of guys tonight, threw a lot of pitches,” Boone said. “It’ll be a little bit of a challenge tomorrow, but we’ll work through it.”

Tuesday’s pitching matchup will feature young pitchers experiencing differing degrees of success of late as Sean Newcomb starts for Atlanta against Domingo German.

After going 4-9 in 18 starts last season http://www.seahawksauthorizedshops.com/authentic-shaquem-griffin-jersey , he is 8-2 with a 2.71 ERA in 16 starts in his second campaign.

Newcomb is coming off two straight no-decisions in home starts against the Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds. He has allowed three runs or less in all but two starts and allowed one run or less in eight outings, including six scoreless starts.

“He’s a lot more competitive than I was ever led to believe,” said Snitker while noting how Newcomb’s changeup has developed into an effective pitch. “I didn’t know him a lot. I hadn’t seen him a lot in the minor leagues and once he came here, he’s a quiet guy, he doesn’t show a lot of emotion on the mound but he’s very competitive.”

German will make his 10th start and it might be viewed as an audition to stay in the rotation until Masahiro Tanaka returns from a hamstring injury. German will pitch one day before Tanaka makes a rehab start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

German is 2-3 with a 5.88 ERA in nine starts and has shown some flashes but also struggled. He followed up a three-start stretch where he fanned 28 in 19 innings against the New York Mets, Tampa Bay Rays, and Seattle Mariners by struggling immensely in a 7-6 loss at Tampa Bay on June 24.

In his last start, German tied a career worst by allowing six runs on a career-worst nine hits in three-plus innings. He threw 64 pitches to 19 hitters and was pushed back, though he pitched a scoreless relief inning Wednesday at Philadelphia.

German’s only previous start against a National League team occurred June 9, when he allowed three runs on five hits in six innings in a 4-3 win at the Mets.

Rhys Hoskins gave the Phillies all the runs Zach Eflin needed to stay perfect in June.

Eflin continued to shine for Philadelphia with just four hits allowed over seven shutout innings, and Hoskins hit a three-run homer to help the Phillies beat the New York Yankees 3-0 on Wednesday night.

Eflin, acquired in the 2014 trade that sent fan favorite and former NL MVP Jimmy Rollins to the Los Angeles Dodgers, won his fifth straight start and kept the surprising Phillies in the thick of the NL East race.

”You can see why they’re kind of excited about him,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. ”I thought he threw the ball really well and really was in command. He kind of shut us down. We were pretty quiet. Even when we’re not scoring runs, we’re mounting things. We really didn’t mount that much against him.”

Eflin (6-2) became the first Phillies pitcher to win five starts in a month (he had a 1.76 ERA in June) since Cole Hamels went 5-0 in May 2012. Eflin has turned into a stopper of sorts for Philly: He won his fourth game this month following a Phillies loss. Eflin walked two, struck out six and helped the Phillies avoid a three-game sweep before beginning a key four-game series against the division rival Washington Nationals. The Phillies trail the Atlanta Braves by 2 1/2 games, and the Nationals are 3 1/2 back.

”Being able to be healthy and to focus on pitching alone is probably the biggest thing,” Eflin said. ”Going in with a great game plan and two catchers who know how to call a great game is extremely beneficial. And doing that and putting the puzzle pieces together has been awesome.”

Eflin, who did not allow a homer over 30 2/3 innings in June, also at last got most of the 42,028 fans at packed Citizens Bank Park to root, root http://www.ravensauthorizedshops.com/authentic-orlando-brown-jr.-jersey , root for the home team. Yankees fans swarmed the stadium for all three games of the series, and ”Let’s go Yankees!” chants boomed at first pitch.

By the time Searanthony Dominguez struck out Gleyber Torres to wrap up his fifth save, over two scoreless innings, Phillies fans were on their feet as Yankees fans trudged toward the exits.

Manager Gabe Kapler implored Phillies fans to pack CBP for the Nationals series.

”You need exposure to that because we expect to be in the playoffs many times in the coming years,” he said. ”These are young players that are going to be expected to perform under those conditions. It’s nice to have some exposure to that early in their careers.”

The Yankees, who have the best record in baseball at 52-26, sat slugging outfielder Aaron Judge for the series finale. Boone wanted to pair a day of rest with Thursday’s off day to keep Judge fresh when the team returns to the Bronx for a weekend set with Boston. The Yankees and Red Sox have been neck and neck atop the AL East, the only teams with a legitimate shot at the division title.

Luis Cessa (0-1) lasted only three innings in his first start for the Yankees since last Aug. 14 and was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after taking the loss. The Phillies had two runners on and two outs in the second inning when Hoskins connected on an opposite-field shot to left for his 12th homer of the season. He hit his sixth home run in 17 games this June, and he has given the Phillies a lead with 11 of his homers.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: RHP Masahiro Tanaka, on the 10-day DL since June 9 with strained left and right hamstrings, is set to throw again on Friday. The Yankees haven’t decided if Tanaka will make a rehab start or throw a simulated game.

Phillies: RHP Pat Neshek, out all season because of an injured right shoulder, is set to make his third rehab appearance on Friday. He’s pitched twice for Double-A Reading. … RHP Jerad Eickhoff (nerve) will throw a bullpen session on Thursday and head to Florida for more work. … RHP Luis Garcia (sore right wrist) will throw a bullpen session on Friday and could possibly be activated on Sunday. … RHP Edubray Ramos (right shoulder) will throw from flat ground on Thursday.

HOSKINS MILESTONES

Hoskins became the fastest Phillie to reach 30 career homers in games played (119), topping Chuck Klein (132) and Ryan Howard (134).

”My first thought was, `Wow.’ Any time you get mentioned in a sentence with either of those guys or anyone of their caliber is pretty humbling,” he said.

RELIEF ACE

Yankees reliever Giovanny Gallegos struck out a career-high six over three innings.

UP NEXT

Yankees: After a day off on Thursday, CC Sabathia (4-3, 3.18 ERA) takes the mound to open the three-game set against the Red Sox. Boone said Luis Severino, the majors’ first 12-game winner, will start on Sunday.

Phillies: RHP Aaron Nola (9-2, 2.58) opens the first of a four-game series against the Nationals.

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