ATLANTA (AP) — Cameron Maybin Jersey , DJ LeMahieu was still looking for his first hit and felt he hadn’t made good contact.He was just saving his best swing for extra innings.The Colorado Rockies struck for three runs with two outs in the ninth inning before LeMahieu homered over the center field wall in the 10th Saturday night in a 5-3 win over the Atlanta Braves.LeMahieu’s drive off Luke Jackson cleared the 400-foot mark — the deepest part of the park.“I hadn’t really hit the ball hard all night,” he said. “I was just trying to get on base.”Carlos Gonzalez followed with a double and scored on Nolan Arenado’s single to complete a frustrating blown save for fill-in closer A.J. Minter.Minter came in with a 3-0 lead to begin the ninth and retired the first two Colorado batters. But the Rockies followed with four straight hits, including a two-run double by Ian Desmond and a tying single by pinch-hitter Gerardo Parra.Minter has been Atlanta’s closer since Arodys Vizcaino went on the disabled list last month with shoulder trouble.Braves trainer George Poulis visited Minter on the mound early in the ninth to examine a cut on Minter’s left thumb. Minter said a fingernail caused the cut on his second pitch.“It had nothing to do with the outcome of the game,” Minter said, adding the blown save was “just pretty pathetic on my part. My job was to come in and get three outs, especially in a three-run game, and I didn’t get the job done.”Braves manager Brian Snitker described Minter, a rookie, as “still a work in progress” while mastering the command of pitches.“It hasn’t been great for a few outings, really,” Snitker said. “He has continued to make pitches and not give in and get through it.”LeMahieu hit his 10th homer with one out in the 10th off Jackson (1-1).The Braves stranded a runner at third base in the ninth when Adam Ottavino (5-2) struck out Dansby Swanson to end the inning. Wade Davis pitched the 10th for his 34th save.The Rockies have won the first three games of the four-game series to stay close to NL West-leading Arizona.The NL East-leading Braves remained one-half game ahead of second-place Philadelphia.Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz gave up four hits in seven innings and struck out nine.Nick Markakis drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single off Antonio Senzatela with two outs in the third inning. Ronald Acuna Jr. had three hits and a walk, scored twice and stole a base. Acuna singled, stole second and scored on Freddie Freeman’s single off Bryan Shaw in the eighth.TRAINER’S ROOMRockies: INF Pat Valaika was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque to clear a roster spot for Senzatela, who had been on the 10-day disabled list since Aug. 5 with right shoulder inflammation.Braves: Snitker said LHP Max Fried (left groin strain) will make another rehab start before he’s able to return to Atlanta. He allowed three earned runs in 4 1/3 innings for Triple-A Gwinnett on Friday.LEADOFF MAGICAcuna extended his Atlanta franchise-record streak to reaching safely in nine consecutive plate appearances leading off a game when he singled in the first inning. He has four homers, three singles, one walk and a hit by pitch when leading off games over that span.RECORD CROWDThere was occasional light rain but no delay following an afternoon of sometimes heavy downpours. Despite the threatening weather, the sellout of 42,143 set a SunTrust Park record.UP NEXTRockies: RHP German Marquez (10-9, 4.51) is coming off a win over Justin Verlander and the Astros in Houston on Tuesday. He is 5-1 with a 2.91 ERA since June 30 and is 3-0 with a 2.73 ERA in his last five road starts.Braves: RHP Anibal Sanchez (6-3 Lewis Brinson Jersey , 3.07) will try to extend his perfect career record against the Rockies. Sanchez is 4-0 with a 1.99 ERA in six career starts against Colorado. When Aaron Judge suffered a chip fracture in his right wrist July 26, the initial expectation was that he would only be away from the New York Yankees for a couple of weeks.Well, it's been over a month and the slugging right fielder still isn't back. As much as anything, this explains why Andrew McCutchen is on his way to New York.Not long after the Yankees blew a ninth-inning lead en route to a crushing 8-7 loss to the Detroit Tigers Thursday night, reports surfaced that the San Francisco Giants had agreed to trade McCutchen to the Yankees. According to Joel Sherman of theNew York Post, two prospects are going to San Francisco:Joel Sherman Joelsherman1I hear if the trade is completed #yankees will be sending two prospects to the #sfgiants for McCutchen and that Abital Avelino is one of them.McCutchen, the 2013 National League MVP, isgoing from a sub-.500 Giants team to an 84-50 Yankees club that's positioned for a wild-card berth. Because he was acquired ahead of the August 31 waiver trade deadline, he's eligible to stay with New York for the duration of its October ride.For the Yankees, it's a solid baseball trade.Abiatal Avelino only checks in as their No. 23 prospect atMLB.com.And perRandy Millerof NJ.com, the $2.45 million left on McCutchen's contract shouldn't put the Yankees over the luxury-tax threshold.Now that the basics are out of the way, it's on to the heart of the matter: This deal shouldspare the Yankees from a nightmare of their own making.Adam Hunger/Getty ImagesOriginally, it wasbelieved that Judge would need only three weeks of rest before he was able to swing a bat again. More than three weeks later, however, the 2017 American League Rookie of the Year still isn't close to swinging a bat again.It doesn't need to be speculated that the Yankees erred in thinking Judge could make such a swift recovery. General manager Brian Cashman admitted as much toShermanon August 20:"[Yankees team doctor Chris] Ahmad was optimistic. He recognizes these things take four to six weeks, but for some reason his experience with Judge, [Ahmad] went the most optimistic three weeks. That was a mistake, one he has self-admitted to. In fairness to Aaron, four to six weeks is typical. Usually http://www.marlinsfanproshop.com/authentic-jt-riddle-jersey , we don't over-promise. In this case, we missed on the timeline. It is unfair to the player. The optimism and the timeline were inaccurate."If thereissomething to speculate about, it's whether the Yankees ran with an aggressive timeline for Judge's recovery for the sake of convenience.At the time he was hurt, they had already lost fellow slugger Gary Sanchez to astrained groinand young outfielder Clint Frazier to aconcussion. According to Jon Heyman of Fancred, they adjusted their deadline priorities accordingly:Jon Heyman JonHeymanYankees looking for an extra hitter/OF with judge (and Sanchez and Frazier) out. Probably prefer a righty hitter. But the grandy man cgrand3 could be a potential fit.Under these circumstances, a conservative recovery timeline for Judge might have signaled a greater sense of desperation to potential trade partners, resulting in boosted price tags.Had the Yankees' maneuvering worked, it would have been worth a tip of the ol' cap. Instead, nothing happened in the final days of July or through the first 30 days of August. And the Yankees paid for it.Sure, they have a winning record (19-14) in the time Judge has been out. But theiroffense has gone from a .789 OPSwith himto a .762 OPSwithout him, and the team's deficit to the Boston Red Sox in the AL East race has grown from 4.5 games to 8.5 games.By not rushing to bring in help from outside the organization, the Yankees took asense of urgency that should have been on their shoulders and transferred it onto Judge's.Thus, it's no wonder that he recently spoke about returning before he was 100 percent healthy."That's what I've heard, that I can play with it," the 26-year-oldtold reportersTuesday. "I don't need surgery, I don't need anything like that. You can play with it before it fully heals. It's just getting that pain down to zero."Maybe an early return would have worked. This is Aaron Judge, after all.He's a .284/.412/.595 hitter with 78 home runs over the last two seasons. Even a sub-100 percent version of him might have still proved to be elite.However, it's just as likely that an early return would have resulted in calamity.There would have been the risk of his wrist catching another wayward fastballlike the onethat hit him in July. Other forces (an awkward check swing, a hard headfirst slide http://www.marlinsfanproshop.com/authentic-j.-t.-realmuto-jersey , a diving catch attempt) could also have put his wrist in jeopardy.Even if Judge avoided all of these, he might not have been up to being a savior anyway. He could have been held back by out-of-whack timing. Or, the 6'7", 282-pounder'swounded wrist could have rendered him unable to conjure his trademark power.Now that McCutchen is coming to the rescue, there's no need for Judge to rush.McCutchen isn't Judge's equal at this stage of his career, but he can still hit. He has a .772 OPS and 15 homers on the season, and a solid .794 OPS and six homers since the All-Star break.If nothing else, McCutchen is a better option in right field than what the Yankees had been going with in place of Judge.While Giancarlo Stanton and Neil Walker have done their part to carry the load, Shane Robinson has done plenty to chip away at it. The Yankeesrank 28thin right field offense since July 28.Having McCutchen in right field should take care of that problem in the short term. Because of that, Judge can take more time to let his wrist heal. With enough luck, it will be good to go in time for the postseason. At that point, McCutchen would go from a solid everyday player to an enviable platoon option.Of course, it's hard not to wonder where the Yankees would be right now if they'd traded for McCutchen sooner. They'd almost certainly be closer to the Red Sox in the AL East race. If so, their September would be less about saving face and more about seizing an opportunity.Still, a trade made late is better than a trade not made at all. Rather than too little, too late, McCutchen to the Yankees is just enough, just in time.Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and Baseball Savant.