The opener for the New York Yankees was a big hit as a full house attended to see the Yankees beat the Brewers 4-2. This opener saw the defending American League champions host the Milwaukee Brewers. ESPN began the broadcast by paying tribute to Bob Uecker, the Brewers’ legendary broadcaster. He died in January at the age of 90.
The Yankee starting pitcher was Carlos Rodon, and the Yankees hoped they would get more from him this year. The opener started with a strike. Do you think the Yankees, with all their horrible injuries, will win the American League East?
Lineups For the Opener
For the opener, the Brewers batted first. They had Jackson Chourio playing left field and batting first. Christian Yelich was the designated hitter batting second, Contreras did the catching and batted third, Rhys Hoskins was playing first base and batting fourth, Sal Frelick was playing right field and batting fifth, Joey Ortiz was the shortstop batting six, Garrett Mitchell was playing centerfield and batted seventh, Vinny Capra was playing third base batting eighth, and Brice Turang was playing second base batting ninth.
The Yankees opener lineup was Austin Wells batting first and catching, Aaron Judge batting second and playing right field, Cody Bellinger batting third and playing centerfield, Paul Goldschmidt batting fourth and playing first base, Jazz Chisolm Jr. batting fifth and playing second base, Jasson Dominguez playing left field and batting sixth, Anthony Volpe playing shortstop batting seventh, Ben Rice was the Designated Hitter batting eighth, and Oswaldo Cabrera was playing third base batting ninth.
Scoring Summary
Wells hit a solo home run to lead off the game to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Volpe hit a solo home run in the second inning, giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead. Capra hit a solo home run in the third inning to cut the Yankee lead in the opener to cut the Yankee lead to 2-1. Judge hit the third base bag with a ground ball and drove in the Yankees’ third run of the opener in the seventh inning. That gave the Yankees a 3-1 lead.
Bellinger then hit a sacrifice fly to drive in the Yankees’ fourth run of the game, also in the seventh inning. The Yankees took a 4-1 lead. Turang hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Ortiz with the bases loaded, cutting the Yankee lead to 4-2 in the 9th inning.
Notes From the Game
Wells leading off the game was the first time the Yankees have ever had a catcher leading off. It paid off, Wells led off the game with a home run. He became the first catcher in Major League Baseball history to lead off a game with a home run.
How many more seasons will we have of peak Judge? However, Wells will see a lot of good pitches hitting in front of Judge. Milwaukee Brewers Manager Pat Murphy is the reigning National League Manager of the Year. Volpe hit a home run for NY’s second run of the game the other way. That was good, but last year the Yankees scored just over 50% of their runs by home run in 2024. Yankees center fielder Cody Bellinger‘s father, Cody, played with the Yankees.
Rodon, the Yankees’ starter, was sporting a well-kept beard, taking advantage of the Yankees’ new facial hair policy. He pitched well. The Yankees need him to pitch well with three-fifths of their starting rotation on the injured list. Rodon pitched 4 1/3 innings, giving up only one run and 2 hits, having surrendered 2 walks and striking out 7.
Conclusion
There is no more special place to have an opening day than Yankee Stadium. As Yankee radio announcer John Sterling used to say, “the home office of baseball.” Everyone had butterflies in their stomachs. It was a good sign for the Yankees that their young players, Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe, both hit home runs.
