The Yankees hit a franchise record nine home runs to beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 20-9, on Saturday afternoon.
– New York started the game off with a splash, well … four splashes, to be exact.
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Paul Goldschmidt — batting in the leadoff spot for the first time in his career — Cody Bellinger, and Aaron Judge crushed back-to-back-to-back home runs on three straight pitches from former Yankee Nestor Cortes in the bottom of the first inning. It was the first time in MLB history a team has hit home runs on the first three pitches they saw (h/t Sarah Langs).
Then, with two outs, Austin Wells joined in on the fun and hit his second homer of the year to give New York a 4-0 lead.
– It didn’t take long for the Yanks to add to their lead, as Anthony Volpe hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the second inning to make it a 7-3 game. New York kept its foot on the gas, knocking Cortes out of the game and loading the bases in the third inning for Bellinger, who singled to drive in another run. Judge then dropped the hammer with a grand slam, pushing the lead to 12-3. Jazz Chisholm felt left out and hit a solo shot to join the party, upping the score to 13-3. The seven home runs through three innings is the most in MLB history.
– The Yanks continued the barrage in the bottom of the fourth inning. Bellinger drove in Trent Grisham on a sac fly and Judge hit his third homer of the afternoon, a two-run blast, to make it 16-4. That gave New York eight home runs in the game, tying a franchise record. The major league record for home runs in a game is 10, set by the Toronto Blue Jays on Sept. 14, 1987.
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– Overlooked by the record-setting offense was Max Fried, who took the mound for the first time in pinstripes. After a quick first inning, Fried got into some trouble with two on and one out, and let up an RBI single to Vinny Capra. A throwing error by Volpe allowed another run to cross the plate, and then Fried gave up a single and made an error of his own to give the Brewers their third run. He struck out William Contreras with runners on second and third to escape the jam.
Fried got through the third inning unscathed, despite his second HBP of the day. He allowed a one-out double to Jackson Chourio in the fourth, and after a third error, surrendered an RBI single to Rhys Hoskins. Errors continued to plague the Yanks, as Pablo Reyes had his second and Chisholm had one to give Milwaukee runners on the corners. Chourio grounded out back to Fried, allowing the runner to score from third, and Christian Yelich drove in another for their sixth run, ending the lefty starter’s day.
Overall, Fried allowed two earned runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts across 4.2 innings (94 pitches).
– Bellinger’s RBI single and Judge’s RBI double made it 18-6 in the bottom of the sixth. Oswald Peraza pinch-hit for Reyes in the seventh inning and hit a two-run homer to put the Yanks up 20-6, helping set a new franchise record with nine jacks in one game.
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– J.C. Escarra made his MLB debut in the bottom of the seventh, pinch-hitting for Wells. The 29-year-old struck out swinging against LHP Chad Patrick. Escarra popped out to third in his second at-bat in the eighth inning. With the score out of hand, veteran Carlos Carrasco tossed the final two innings and allowed three runs on five hits, including a homer, with two strikeouts.
Judge recorded his third career three-homer game, tying him with Alex Rodriguez and Joe DiMaggio for second in Yankees history behind Lou Gehrig’s four.
The reigning AL MVP finished 4-for-6 with three homers, a double, and a career-best eight RBI.
The Yankees and Brewers wrap up their three-game series in The Bronx on Sunday. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m.
Marcus Stroman is set to take the mound and will go up against RHP Aaron Civale.
