WEST SACRAMENTO -- As he rounded the bases, even Jasson Domínguez couldn’t believe it. The young Yankees outfielder had never even hit TWO home runs in the same Major League game before Friday night, when his eighth-inning grand slam immediately turned a career-best night into a truly historic one.
"No way,” Domínguez told himself as he made the trot in front of a speechless, sellout crowd at Sutter Health Park. “There’s no way.”
There sure was a way, though. Not only did Domínguez’s grand slam break things open for the Yankees in Friday’s 10-2 win, but it made him -- at 22 days, 91 years old -- the youngest player in franchise history with a three-homer game. That mark was previously set by Joe DiMaggio (22 years, 200 days old) in 1937.
"Tonight was special,” Domínguez said. “A very special night that I will remember.”
Even before that fateful eighth, that was the case. The switch-hitting Domínguez went back to back with first baseman Paul Goldschmidt in his first at-bat in the second inning, batting left-handed against A’s starter Osvaldo Bido.
He homered again as a right-hander against lefty reliever Hogan Harris in the seventh before switching back to the left side in the eighth for his no-doubt slam.
Domínguez became the first Yankee since Aaron Hicks in 2018 with a three-homer game that included homers from both sides. He’s the third player in MLB history to do that with a grand slam, a feat previously accomplished by Bill Mueller in 2003.
"One from the right side, two from the left side, that obviously doesn’t happen that often,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It usually takes a pretty talented player to do something like that.”
Domínguez sure fits that description. Hyped as a big-time prospect since he was a teenager, he made his MLB debut at age 20 in 2023 and immediately delivered, socking four home runs in his first seven games.
But a torn UCL ended his promising rookie campaign and sidelined him until August 2024. After hitting just .179 in limited action that year, Domínguez put in extensive work during the offseason, honing his glove on the back fields and taking cuts in the batting cages during Spring Training.
His Yankees teammates, including star outfielder Aaron Judge, certainly took notice.
“To see him have a game like this tonight, three homers, it’s just special,” Judge said. “I think you see the excitement of everybody in the dugout on each homer.”
To Boone, Domínguez’s final dinger was the product of not just the youngster’s talent but the team’s relentless approach at the plate. From Trent Grisham’s leadoff walk and Judge’s double in the first inning to a five-run eighth, the Yankees produced traffic on the basepaths in nearly every frame. They totaled 14 hits and walked six times.
"It’s fun to watch that when they’re all really gritty, grindy at-bats, and then the dam breaks because they’re really good,” Boone said. “Just a really strong performance, and everyone played a role, I feel like. Body blow, body blow, body blow and then boom.”
Domínguez delivered that boom for the Yankees. With a run home already and the bases loaded in the eighth, he turned around a 1-2 sinker at 97.6 mph from A’s reliever Elvis Alvarado -- who was making his Major League debut -- and parked it in the visitors’ bullpen in right-center, where the baseball bounced once and found its way to a Yankees fan on the outfield berm.
The grand slam capped a night unlike any Domínguez had ever had -- except “on the PlayStation,” where (playing as himself) the young slugger is apparently no stranger to three-homer games.
Not even a solid showing in pregame batting practice hinted at the game Domínguez was about to deliver.
"I felt good, but I didn’t feel like I would have a day like this,” he said.
For the Yankees, it’s hard not to picture more days like this on the horizon. Domínguez has now started 31 of the team’s 38 games, and after Friday’s outburst, he now has five homers and an .802 OPS.
If he’s able to maintain a spot in the lineup, another three-homer game might not be such a surprise.
"He just needs to play,” Boone said. “It’s just the experience with him. He’s so talented.”