The long ball powered the New York Yankees to a 20-9 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. This was the second game of the year for the Yankees. Max Fried, the $278 million pitcher, debuted for the Yankees, at Yankee Stadium no less. The Yankees scored their first thirteen runs via the long ball. The long ball made up more than half of the Yankee runs last season. Do you think the Yankees are too reliant on the long ball?
Lineups For the Game
For the opener, the Brewers batted first. They had Jackson Chourio playing left field and batting first again. Christian Yelich was the designated hitter batting second to start the game but was replaced by pinch hitter Isaac Collins when the game became a blowout. William Contreras did the catching and batted third, though he too was replaced, Rhys Hoskins was playing first base and batting fourth, and he was replaced as well. 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, though he was replaced as well, and Brice Turang was playing second base batting ninth.
The Yankees lineup for the second game of the season was a bit different. Paul Goldschmidt batted first and played first base, though he was replaced by Orlando Cabera. Cody Bellinger batted second and playing left field, and Aaron Judge batted third and playing right field. Jazz Chisolm Jr. bats fourth and plays second base, Anthony Volpe bats fifth and plays shortstop, and Austin Wells plays catcher and batting sixth. Though he was replaced with JC Escarra. Pablo Reyes got a start at third base and was batting seventh, though he was replaced by Oswald Peraza. Jasson Dominguez was the designated hitter batting eighth. Trent Grisolm was batting ninth and was the center fielder.
Scoring Summary: Lots of Long Balls for the Yankees
Paul Goldschmidt hit a long ball to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. This was the second consecutive game where the Yankees got a lead-off home run.
Cody Bellinger, Aaron Judge, and Austin Wells then went back to back-to-back in the second inning to give the Yankees a 4-0 lead.
In the fourth inning, Vinny Capra singled in Garrett Mitchell to cut the Yankee lead to 4-1. Brice Turang then grounded out and Max Fried made a throwing error to cut the Yankee lead to 4-3.
Anthony Volpe hit a 3-run home run in the bottom of the second inning to extend the Yankee lead to 7-3 inches bottom of the single in the third inning to score Jasson Dominguez and the Yankee lead was 8-3.
Aaron Judge hit a Grand Slam that inning to make the Yankees lead 12-3. Then Jazz Chisolm hit a long ball and the Yankee lead was 13-3.
Rhys Hoskins singles in Wilson Contreras, to cut the Yankee lead to 13-4 in the fourth inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Cody Bellinger hit a sacrifice fly and Aaron Judge hit a two-run home run to make the Yankees lead 16-4.
In the fifth inning, Milwaukee scored runs on a ground out by Jackson Chourio and an RBI single from Christian Yelich and cut the Yankee lead to 13-6.
Inches bottom of the sixth inning Cody Bellinger had an RBI single for the Yankees and Aaron Judge doubled in a run to extend the Yankee lead to 18-6.
In the bottom of the seventh Oswaldo Peraza hit a home run to extend the Yankee lead to 20-6.
In the eighth Jake Baures hit an RBI double to cut the Yankee lead to 20-7.
In the ninth inning, Brice Turang hit a 2-run home run to produce the final score of 20-9.
Notes From the Game
Aaron Judge picked up right where he left off. He hit his first, second, and third long balls of the season, including a Grand Slam. He also had a double. He drove in 8 runs, scored two, and is off to a great start to the season.
The Yankees used the long ball to score most of their runs. It was not until their 14 run of the game. The Yankees scored more than half of their runs last season via the long ball.
Austin Wells hit another home run, his second of the season. It seems the decision to trade Trevino to the Cincinnati Reds was a good one. It remains to be seen if Wells will wear down.
Max Fried, whom the Yankees need to be an Ace for their pitching staff, pitched fairly well. Yet, he appeared nervous. If he gets this much run support, it will not matter how he pitches.
Conclusion
The Yankees bludgeoned the Brewers in the second game of a three-game series. It was the second game of the year for the Yankees and their second win of the season. Although the results for the Yankees in this game were good there were two worrying signs. First, Max Fried did not pitch well for the Yankees, they needed him to. Second, the Yankees again scored most of their runs via the long ball. That continues a trend from last season.
