BALTIMORE – As Yogi Berra might have said, it was déjà vu all over again.
The Yankees became the first team in AL/NL history to open multiple games with three consecutive homers in a single season, repeating their feat one month to the date. Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge and Ben Rice all went deep, setting the tone in a 15-3 rout of the Orioles at Camden Yards.
“It really starts with Grish; Grish got it going for us,” Judge said. “It gets you going, so it’s just kind of like, ‘Hey, I’ve got to go up there and try to do my job.’ It takes a little weight off everyone’s shoulders when Grish goes out there and does that. It was good.”
Cody Bellinger added a homer later in the inning as the Yankees notched the second four-homer opening frame in franchise history. That matched their output from March 29, when Paul Goldschmidt, Bellinger, Judge and Austin Wells went deep off the Brewers’ Nestor Cortes at Yankee Stadium.
“I definitely haven’t seen anything like it,” manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s hard to wrap your head around that.”
All four of Tuesday’s first-inning homers came off Kyle Gibson, who was thumped for nine runs over 3 2/3 innings. Boone said the Yankees “have a little bit of familiarity” with the 37-year-old right-hander, who was making his season debut after signing with Baltimore in late March.
“It was impressive at-bats, all up and down the first inning,” Judge said. “To see Bellinger get one there, which is big time, it’s good to see some of those guys rolling. This team kept the pedal to the metal.”
The power show nearly overshadowed an excellent performance by left-hander Carlos Rodón, who retired the first 15 batters he faced before issuing a walk. Jorge Mateo registered Baltimore’s first hit, a double to right field.
“I was able to attack the zone and just get outs because we had such a nice lead,” said Rodón, who permitted two hits and one walk with seven strikeouts over six-plus innings. “We could just cruise … pour it in, get outs as quick as we can and get the boys back in the dugout so they can score more runs.”
Judge said Rodón seemed like “a man on a mission,” one that was easier to accomplish on a night when the Yankees brought the offensive thunder.
Grisham slugged Gibson’s second pitch to Eutaw Street for his third leadoff homer of the season (seventh of his career), a blast that briefly tied Judge for the team home run lead with eight.
“I walked up with the intention to be ready to hit, which is what I try to do every at-bat,” Grisham said.
Not so fast, the Yankees captain said, following with a drive over the right-field wall for his ninth homer.
“I can’t let him have that,” said Judge, who extended his hitting streak to 10 games. “It was fun. I’m happy he gave us the lead and we were tied for a second, but I had to take that back.”
Rice then slugged the third consecutive homer off Gibson, part of a two-homer performance for the second-year Bomber. Gibson had thrown five pitches to that point, with three landing for souvenirs.
Rice acknowledged he’d thought about hitting a homer as he came to the plate.
“It definitely crosses your mind, right?” Rice said. “The first two guys just hit a homer, but with that being said, you’ve just got to stick to your approach. Stick to your plan, and look for something to drive.”
Grisham’s homer was the 133rd to reach Eutaw Street since the stadium’s opening in 1992, and the 69th by an opponent. It was the 12th by a Yankee, last done by Juan Soto on April 30 of last season.
“It’s cool to look back and say, ‘I got to start that off,’” Grisham said. “It was the guys behind me that really laid it on there.”
Rice finished with three hits, four runs scored and two RBIs, Bellinger collected three RBIs and Wells slugged a late homer. Each player in the Yankees’ starting lineup logged at least one hit; the club tallied a season-high 19 hits in all.
“It just shows that we’ve got a lot of depth in the lineup,” Rice said. “We’ve got a lot of different guys that can do it. We’ve got guys up and down the lineup.”