Especially late, with the Yankees playing far from lights out, there’s been a spotlight on a couple Yankees’ hitters and their struggles. Aaron Judge has not looked even close to their Aaron Judge we’re used to. Gleyber Torres has gotten off to the worst start imaginable, with the added issue that it’s a contract year for him. Anthony Rizzo has hit more like the post-concussion player that he was last year than the pre-one.
At a minimum, the Yankees will need those three to get going if they’re going to make any sort legitimate run in the 2024 season. On Saturday night, they, and others, showed some positive signs. Judge, Torres, and Rizzo all had good nights, with Alex Verdugo and Giancarlo Stanton in as well, allowing the Yankees to put up season highs in both runs and hits.
Combined with that was a very good game from Carlos Rodón on the mound. He went six innings, allowing just one run on two hits and a walk, while striking out eight. All of that allowed the Yankees to put in one of their best team performances of the season in a 15-3 win over the Brewers.
Coming into this game, the Yankees made a bit of a lineup change, with the middle of the order having been especially unimpressive as of late. It didn’t take long for the change to have an effect. Getting the start in the cleanup spot, Alex Verdugo took the very first pitch he saw in the game over the right field wall for a three-run homer, after Anthony Volpe and Juan Soto had reached base to start the game.
At the bottom of the first, the Brewers got one of those runs back when Rhys Hoskins crushed a two-out solo home run. It turns out, Rodón would allow just one more hit after that: a Joey Ortiz double that he worked around without any trouble.
All of Judge, Rizzo, and Torres played a role as the Yankees put up another three-run frame in the third. Judge started things off by drawing a walk, and was soon followed by Giancarlo Stanton doing the same. Rizzo then reached on a grounder that was ruled a hit, but was aided a bit by pitcher Joe Ross misfielding and mis-throwing a bit. That brought Torres to the plate. After working the count in a solid at-bat, I lined a double into the gap. He split the fielders and went all the way to the wall, scoring all three runners. Gleyber more than doubled his RBI total for the season to that point with that much-needed hit.
The Yankees picked up another run in the fifth inning. After Rizzo poked a single into no-man’s land, they got a bit of luck when Hoskins couldn’t handle Torres’ grounder, allowing everyone to be safe. A couple batters later, Oswaldo Cabrera got in the action with a single, scoring Rizzo.
Judge continued his nice night in the sixth inning. I crushed Thyago Vieira pitch 417 feet to almost dead center for a two-run shot. A couple batters later, Rizzo added yet another two-run homer, which got the Yankees into double digit runs for the first time this season.
Up big, the Yankees elected to remove Rodón after six innings. Luke Weaver ended up following him with two innings, allowing no runs on one hit and a walk, aided in part by https://twitter.com/Yankees/status/1784393853979504900.
The Brewers brought player Owen Miller into position to pitch the last couple innings. The Yankees’ offense ended up tackling on a couple more runs in that time, with Stanton adding a home run of his own. The Yankees decided to go with a pitcher position of their own in the bottom of the ninth and brought in Jose Trevino. The Brewers ended up picking up a couple runs off him, but the catcher eventually finished things off.
The Yankees and Brewers will wrap up their series with the rubber match tomorrow afternoon at 2:10 pm ET. Marcus Stroman is expected to go for the Yankees, with Tobias Myers on the hill for Milwaukee.
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