Yankees right the ship with 4-2 win over Phillies | Rapid reaction

Led by rookie pitcher Jonathan Loaisiga and a host of others, the Yankees snapped a season-long losing streak on Monday night by prevailing in a series opener against the Phillies.

PHILADELPHIA — The Yankees‘ first three-game losing streak of the season is history.

They can thank kid starter Jonathan Loaisiga, who took a no-hitter into the sixth and worked 5 1/3 shutout innings facing the Philadelphia Phillies in interleague baseball Monday night at Citizens Bank Park.

Loaisiga loses no-hitter in 6th inning

They can thank three of the best arms in their deep, great and red-hot bullpen, first David Robertson, then Dellin Betances and then Aroldis Chapman, who took turns putting out fires in the first of three in this week’s 2009 World Series rematch.

They also can thank Giancarlo Stanton, who followed his 5-for-5 game in Sunday’s 12-inning loss to the Tampa Bay Rays with a 2-for-3 night that included a breathing-room, two-run single in the top of the eighth and then a nice running catch in deep left field in the bottom of the inning with two on and two out in a three-run game.

The end result was a 4-2 Yankees victory over the contending Phillies that was a quick fix to a nightmare weekend in St. Petersburg, Fla., in which they lost all three games plus catcher Gary Sanchez to a groin injury that will have him on the disabled list for the next three-to-four weeks.

“Losing stinks,” Yankees manager Boone said. “You get swept in a series, you want to put an end to that.”

“We just had to forget about what happened in Tampa and get ready for a good Phillies offense and a good Phillies team,” added right fielder Aaron Judge, who hit a solo homer in the fifth, No. 20 for the season. “That was our main goal. Scratch what happened in Tampa and get back on track.”

Loaisiga (2-0) was tremendous in his third big-league start, as he was perfect through four innings and no-hit the Phillies until Jorge Alfaro led off the home sixth with a line single to right.

With the Yanks up 2-0, Loaisiga was pulled with his pitch count at 86 after the Alfaro hit was followed by a walk to pinch-hitter Aaron Altherr.

“We weren’t going to go much over 90 with him,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I would have had to answer tougher questions if he hadn’t given up that hit because he was coming out.

“We were hoping to get him through that sixth because his pitch count was pretty good, but we weren’t going to go much over 90 at all with him. And I felt like he maybe started to tire a little bit when he lost those two guys in that inning, but all in all, what a really good performance.”

Robertson came on to get the Yanks out of that sixth-inning trouble unscathed, then after he gave up a run in the seventh that made it a one-run game, Betances entered and protected the 2-1 lead by retiring two in a row, the last with the tying run in scoring position.

With the Yanks up three runs, Chapman allowed a two-outs-in-the-ninth, solo homer to Maikel Franco before striking out Alfaro to end the game.

Stanton put his stamp on this win, too.

Playing left instead of DHIng with the pitchers hitting in interleague play, Stanton bailed out the Yankees in the eighth when Chapman replaced Betances with on and two out in a 4-1 game, then got a scare when Carlos Santana hit a long fly to the left-center gap that was hauled in for the final out.

In the top of the eighth, Stanton turned a 2-1Yankees lead into a three-run cushion by lining a bases-loaded, two-out hit to left.

This was the second very good outing in three for Loaisiga, who lowered his ERA to 1.93 ERA while striking out nine, walking two and allowing just one hit.

“I know what I think of (Loaisiga) and what I think of his ability and his potential, so to see him go out there and really pitch as well as he did, I think everyone got a little peak at why we’re so excited about him,” Boone said. “He pitched really well and gave us just what we needed to turn it over to our three guys … All and all, just a good bounce-back win for us.”

NOTABLE

— If you missed it, you need to see a replay of Judge’s solo homer off Phillies starter Vince Velasquez (5-8) that made it a 2-0 game. Judge looked like he was hitting a tee shot hitting a 110.9-mph liner to left field that never got off the ground more than 12 feet before it cleared the 10 1/2-foot high wall and landed in the glove of a fan sitting in the first row of the first seat next to the foul pole. “I didn’t think (it was going out),” Judge said.

— The Yankees made two roster moves on Monday. Besides Sanchez going on the DL, outfielder Clint Frazier was optioned to Triple-A. The Yankees called up Kyle Higashioka to be the No. 2 catcher behind fill-in starter Austin Romine and summoned in Giovanny Gallegos to give them a ninth reliever a day after the bullpen pitched nine-plus innings.

— The Phillies were held to two hits by four Yankees pitchers.

— This week’s series is the first between the Yankees and Phillies at Citizens Bank Park since the 2009 World Series.

LOOKING AHEAD

Tuesday: Yankees at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 p.m., YES. RHP Luis Severino (11-2, 2.24) vs. RHP Jake Arrieta (5-5, 3.42).

Wednesday: Yankees at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 p.m., YES. RHP Luis Cessa (0-0, 3.00) vs. RHP Zach Eflin (5-2, 3.44).

Thursday: Off day.

Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.