Aaron Judge helps the Yankees have a historic afternoon in the Bronx

 

20/16/5 is a stat line that Karl Anthony-Towns, Jalen Brunson, or Josh Hart could give the Knicks on any given night. It is not supposed to be the three columns of a baseball line score, but it was yesterday afternoon. The Yankees scored 20 runs, did so by producing 16 hits, and yes, fumbled the ball around Yankee Stadium attune to five errors.

Even with the five errors, as you might have guessed, if you score 20 runs in a baseball game, you more often than not win, that contest, which the Bronx Bombers did. And the moniker “Bronx Bombers” could not be more spot on than what the Yankee offense did to Milwaukee pitching. It started with New York becoming the first team in Major League history to lead off the game with three swings and three home runs. Back-to-back-to-back by Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, and the captain Aaron Judge. The Yanks went back out onto the field in the top of the second with a four-run cushion thanks to Austin Wells’ second home run in as many games. Anthony Volpe, Jazz Chisholm, and Oswald Peraza would all add home runs to a record setting nine long balls on the day, but it was the captain that stole the show. Judge in his third at-bat in the third inning hit a grand slam. In his fourth at-bat the very next inning he hit a two-run shot. So, in the bottom of the 6th with the entire stadium on pins and needles in anticipation of history (not just the chance to become the 19th player to hit four home runs in the same game but the opportunity to see Judge hit a solo shot, two-run bomb, three-run big fly, and Grand Slam—a home run cycle if you will) the two-time MVP drove a ball to right field, to the warning track, and missed his opportunity at a four home run game and home run cycle by about two feet, settling for a two-run double instead. In the bottom of the 8th facing former teammate and first baseman, Jake Bauers, the Yankee right fielder flew out to the left field warning track on an extremely slow curveball.

It was an afternoon that almost didn’t feel real. For one at the time of first pitch the Bronx in March (!) was a steamy 78 degrees, add in former Yankee Nestor Cortes was making his return to the Bronx, and throwing three pitches and falling into a three-nothing hole, but also the number of long balls didn’t feel like it was happening in real time. It felt like everyone in the Yankees’ starting lineup was going to be getting handshakes in the dugout because of a big fly.

On any other day the big news in the Bronx would have been on the mound. Max Fried made his debut in pinstripes and while being spotted 16 runs, because of the aforementioned five errors, he didn’t factor into the decision only going four and two-thirds throwing 94 pitchers and surrendering six runs of his own. Fried didn’t look comfortable all afternoon and that could be attributed to having to sit for so long while the Yankee offense was busy battering the opposition.

There has been some decent chatter about how the Yankees hit some of their home runs with Jazz Chisholm and Anthony Volpe using new bats where the barrel is different than others around baseball. However, the bats aren’t illegal however, New York cooperated with Major League Baseball to design these new bats.

This Yankee lineup will not make history every day and have only played two games of their marathon season, but the ball club looks primed to make this year end with a different result than 2024.