O Yankees got back on the winning track, hitting three home runs to beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-3, on Saturday afternoon in the Bronx.
Here are the conclusions…
– Aaron Judge hit his 16th home run in the first inning of the season, bringing his total to 41 HRs on the year, giving the Yanks a 2-1 lead. He is tied for the third most home runs in a season in MLB history with Baby Ruth (1927) and Sammy Sosa (2001), just behind Alex Rodríguez18 (2001) and Mark McGwire17 (1999).
In his next at-bat, Judge was intentionally walked by the Blue Jays starter José Berrios with no one on base and two outs in the bottom of the second. The last time this happened in an MLB game was August 10, 1972, when the Angels took the Twins’ catcher Glenn Borgmann (h/t Bryan Hoch).
Toronto opted to throw to Judge his third time at the plate with the bases empty and two outs in the bottom of the fourth, but the slugger went down swinging. The judge later walked over and chose. He finished the game 2-for-3 with two walks and two RBI.
– Trent Grisham increased the Yankees’ lead to 4–1 in the second inning with a two-run homer to right field. It’s his seventh home run of the year and first since July 14 against Baltimore, when he hit his only long ball last month.
– Carlos Rodon leave a two-out home run to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the first, but rallied to get the third and retired eight consecutive Blue Jays in the fourth inning. Guerrero Jr. got the better of Rodon again in the fourth, hitting a single with one out, but the left-handed pitcher managed to escape the inning without sustaining any damage.
Rodon walked George Springer to open the sixth and then hit Joey Loperfido. Aaron Boone left for a mound visit, but allowed Rodon to stay to face Guerrero Jr. The move backfired when the batter doubled down the first base line, ending Rodon’s afternoon. RHP Jake cousins came in looking for relief and allowed a two-run single to Alejandro Kirk, reducing the lead to 6-3. Rodon finished after throwing 106 pitches in 5.1 innings, allowing three earned runs on three hits with eight strikeouts.
– Antonio Volpe hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning to give the Yanks a 6-1 lead. It is 11th of the season for the 23-year-old as he has now been honored in consecutive games and has five in his last 11 games since July 22. Volpe drove in an insurance run in the seventh with a single to increase the lead to 7-3. Austin Wells hit another with a single in the eighth to make it 8-3.
– After getting on the bench in the middle of the game on Friday night, Gleyber Torres started at second base and batted fifth. He went 1-for-4 with a walk, a run scored and a strikeout.
– Marcos Leiter Jr. came in to pitch the ninth, but allowed three singles to load the bases. After getting an internal pop-up for the second exit, Boone opted to bring clay holmes enter to leave the final. The right-hander struck out Springer to end the game.
Game MVP: Aaron Judge
After Rodon allowed a solo home run to Guerrero Jr. in the top of the first, Judge’s two-run HR in the bottom half of the inning set the tone for the day for the Yankees. They never looked back and kept hitting all afternoon. The home run even scared Toronto into intentionally walking the batter.
Judge is now 14-for-27 (.519) in his last seven games with five homers, 11 RBI, nine walks and 10 strikeouts.
Highlights
What is the next
The Yankees wrap up their three-game series with the Blue Jays on Sunday at 1:35 p.m.
Gerrit Cole (3-2, ERA 5.40) return to the mountain to New York while RHP Yariel Rodríguez (1-4, 4.31 ERA) starts for Toronto.
