The New York Yankees’ offense exploded as they cruised past the Pittsburgh Pirates, 16-0, on Wednesday night at PNC Park. With the victory, New York snapped a two-game skid and split the two-game set with Pittsburgh.
The Yankees pounded out 16 runs on a season-high 22 hits, including six home runs and two grand slams. Everyone in the starting lineup had at least a hit, and seven players had multi-hit games. Isiah Kiner-Falefa collected four of the hits.
The game was scoreless until the fifth inning when DJ LeMahieu grounded one through the middle for a two-run single to give New York a 2-0 lead.
Josh Donaldson and Joey Gallo smacked back-to-back home runs in the sixth to make it 4-0.
Kyle Higashioka crushed a solo home run to straightaway center in the seventh to increase the lead to 5-0.
In the eighth, Aaron Judge drilled one over the left-field wall for his third career grand slam and his Major-League-leading 30th home run of the season. Later in the inning, Josh Donaldson drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 10-0.
New York plated six more runs in the ninth. Aaron Hicks belted one over the wall in left-center for a grand slam. Then, Giancarlo Stanton launched one over the wall in right-center for a solo home run. Higashioka capped off the scoring with a two-out RBI single.
Luis Severino started on the mound for the Yankees and fired six shutout innings while allowing four hits and striking out three. The right-hander improved to 5-3 on the season. Wandy Peralta, Aroldis Chapman, and Albert Abreu each tossed a scoreless inning in relief. Pittsburgh had just four hits against New York’s pitching.
The Yankees will head to Boston to begin a four-game series with the Red Sox on Thursday night at Fenway Park. The pitching matchup will feature Gerrit Cole vs. Josh Winckowski. The first pitch is slated for 7:10 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].