The Bronx Bombers certainly lived up to their nickname during a brief stop in Tampa, slugging their way into the record books in a two-game sweep of the Rays.
After tying a franchise mark with nine dingers in Tuesday’s 13-3 win at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees hit five more homers on Wednesday, capped by back-to-back blasts from Giancarlo Stanton and Austin Wells in the top of the 10th inning.
The 14-homer barrage tied the Major League record for the most dingers in a two-game span, a mark first set by the 1999 Reds.
As it happens, those two clubs share more than a record-setting power display. The familiar link between them? Aaron Boone.
The Yankees’ manager was a member of that Cincinnati club and just so happened to hit the first of its 14 homers in the aforementioned stretch, which came against the Phillies at Veterans Stadium on Sept. 4-5, 1999.
After a 20-31 stretch from June 13-Aug. 10, the Yankees have played better of late, winning five straight games and seven of their last eight. They sit four games behind the Blue Jays in the American League East and are a half-game up on the Red Sox for the first AL Wild Card spot entering a pivotal four-game series against Boston at Yankee Stadium starting Thursday.