The home runs just kept coming on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium as the New York Yankees set a franchise record with nine in a 20-9 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Aaron Judge headlined the offensive explosion, launching three homers, including a grand slam, and driving in a career-high eight runs.
Judge, Paul Goldschmidt, and Cody Bellinger went deep on the first three pitches from former Yankee Nestor Cortes, marking the first time since 1988 that a team homered on the first three pitches of a game. Judge nearly became the 19th player in MLB history to hit four home runs in a game but settled for a run-scoring double in the sixth.
Austin Wells, Anthony Volpe, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Oswald Peraza also homered for New York.
Max Fried, making his Yankees debut after signing a $218 million contract, surrendered six runs over 4.2 innings but just two were earned as the defense committed five errors. Yoendrys Gómez recorded his first Major League win in relief of Fried, throwing 1.1 shutout innings.
The game also featured a special moment for J.C. Escarra, a 29-year-old former Uber driver and substitute teacher, who made his MLB debut as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning, striking out against Chad Patrick.
The Yankees go for the three-game sweep of the Brewers on Sunday at 1:35 p.m. when they send Marcus Stroman to the mound.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].