Three pitches, three homeruns, one bad day to be former Yankee, Nestor Cortes. I reluctantly decided to decline purchasing tickets to today's Yankee game with my pals, in order to pour concrete and then have a 3 hour golf practice sesh as I prepare for opening day tomorrow.
However, a good day to be a Yankee fan. If you happened to be outside enjoying the 78-degree weather on Saturday afternoon in the South Bronx, then your ears are surely still ringing from the sound of a crowd of 46,683 going bonkers over the Yankees' historic nine-homer day.
There was no time for fans to catch their breath from the moment former Yankees left-hander Nestor Cortes threw his first pitch in New York's wild and wacky 20-9 win over the Brewers. The Yankees tied their franchise record for most home runs in a game in the fourth inning; they broke that record in the seventh. The Bronx Bombers became just the third team in Major League Baseball history to hit nine or more home runs in a game.
Aaron Judge is picking up right where he left off last season, excluding the post season, launching 3 homeruns (468, 396, 425), the first was an absolute bomb. In the 2024 World Series, Cortes failed to close out Game 1 and allowed a walk-off grand slam from Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman — the first in World Series history. Per The Athletic, Cortes left Yankee Stadium without speaking to the media.
Wells homered in the first as the Yankees burst ahead 4-0 in the first four-homer first inning in team history. Volpe hit a three-run drive in the second for a 7-3 lead, and Judge's ninth career slam opened a 12-3 margin in the third against Connor Thomas. Chazz Jizzem made it back-to-back long balls, and the Yankees became the first big league team to hit seven homers in the first three innings.
With a chance to become the 19th player to hit four homers in a game, Judge hit a sixth-inning fly that short-hopped the right-field wall for an RBI double. The two-time AL MVP flied out to deep left in the eighth against former teammate Bauers, an outfielder and first baseman making a mop-up appearance.
"He told me when I was on deck, is he was going to hit me in the shoulder. He didn't want to see a fourth home run," Judge said, smiling. He flied out on a 55.3 mph offering.
"Gave him the best curveball I had and he still hit it pretty good," Bauers said.
Batting leadoff for the first time in his 15-year major league career, Goldschmidt drove a fastball 413 feet into the Brewers' bullpen in left field. Wells homered starting Thursday's opening win, also atop the lineup for the first time.
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