- Yankees make MLB history with home runs on game's first three pitches
- Aaron Judge delivers 40th career multi-HR game with career-best 8 RBIs
- New York sets franchise record with nine total home runs
In an offensive showcase never before seen in Yankees lore, the Bronx Bombers rewrote the record books with a 20-9 dismantling of the Milwaukee Brewers. The fireworks began immediately as Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, and Aaron Judge launched back-to-back-to-back homers on the game's first three pitches – a statistical first since Major League Baseball began tracking pitch counts in 1988.
Judge's performance transcended even these historic team achievements. The slugger's three-home run outing marked his third career trio of long balls, including a ninth-inning grand slam that brought his career RBI total to 800. His sixth-inning warning-track double narrowly missed becoming MLB's 19th four-homer game, instead settling for a career-high eight RBIs.
The Brewers' Nestor Cortes endured a nightmare debut against his former team, surrendering eight runs across two innings. Newcomer Max Fried's Yankees initiation proved equally rocky, with five defensive errors behind him contributing to four unearned runs. Meanwhile, 29-year-old rookie J.C. Escarra – until recently an Uber driver and substitute teacher – etched his name in franchise history with a seventh-inning pinch-hit appearance.
This offensive explosion continues three key MLB trends: increased home run frequency (up 17% league-wide since 2020), climate-driven performance spikes (the 78-degree first-pitch temperature exceeded seasonal norms by 12 degrees), and roster volatility creating pitching mismatches. The game's 29 combined runs nearly matched the entire AL West's Saturday output (34 runs across five games).
Yankee Stadium's hitter-friendly dimensions contributed to the spectacle, with seven of New York's homers clearing the short right-field porch. This aligns with analytics showing 23% more HRs to right field in Bronx games versus league averages since the stadium's 2009 opening.
Manager Aaron Boone confirmed post-game that Giancarlo Stanton has begun dry swings despite elbow inflammation, potentially adding more firepower to baseball's most explosive lineup. As the Yankees prepare for Sunday's series finale, all eyes remain on whether this record-setting performance signals a new era of Bronx Bombers dominance.