TAMPA, Fla. – The skies finally cleared Tuesday after a lightning display over George M. Steinbrenner Field lasted for nearly two hours. The Yankees brought their own thunder.
Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Giancarlo Stanton hit consecutive first-inning home runs off the Rays’ Shane Baz as they returned to their spring home with a flourish, matching a franchise record by belting nine home runs in a 13-3 thumping of the Rays.
"We have a really good offense,” Bellinger said. “With the ebbs and flows of a 162-game season, it’s not always going to be pretty, but we all believe in each other. The talent’s there, and we’re doing a good job of putting it all together. It’s been fun to be a part of.”
It marked the second time this year the Yankees have hit nine homers in a game: They also did so in the season’s second game, on March 29 against the Brewers in New York. They’re the Majors’ first team in history with multiple games with 9 or more home runs, regardless of whether in the same season or not.
"To do it twice, that’s remarkable,” manager Aaron Boone said. “There were some ones that were seriously hit, too. Just a really impressive offensive showing against a team that is not always easy to score runs against.”
Even Boone said he lost track during the long ball barrage: “Did we hit nine?” Indeed, they did, finishing one shy of a Major League record set by the Blue Jays in 1987.
Stanton and Bellinger each homered twice on Tuesday, as did José Caballero, who viewed a tribute video from his former club on the left-field scoreboard, then cleared the fences a half-inning later.
"That’s why they are the Bronx Bombers,” Caballero said. “Hanging out with those guys, something has to be contagious.”
Seeking their fourth consecutive victory, the Yanks backed left-hander Carlos Rodón early with Judge’s 429-foot blast, off a cutter that rocketed off the bat at 112.3 mph and cleared the center-field batter’s eye for the captain’s 40th homer of the season.
The drive provided an exclamation point on a day that included Boone publicly questioning if Judge’s throwing arm would be fully healthy once he returns to the outfield following a right flexor strain.
Judge insists he will be fine, and at least with a bat in his hands, he looks the part. Judge is the fourth player in franchise history to hit at least 40 homers in four seasons, joining Babe Ruth (11), Lou Gehrig (5) and Mickey Mantle (4).
There was more to come. Bellinger took a cutter out 381 feet to right field and Stanton ripped a 386-foot drive to right-center field.
"The way he’s been hitting lately,” Bellinger said of Stanton, “the preparation and the mental side of the game is really fun to watch. He’s locked in at the plate right now. It’s very impressive.”
It marked the Yankees’ third stretch of three consecutive home runs this season, a feat only previously achieved by the 1982 Brewers and the 2024 Dodgers, per Stathead’s Katie Sharp.
"Give credit to the Yankee lineup,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “They came in and capitalized on any pitch that was a quality pitch or a mistake pitch. They got on a run offensively and we didn’t have an answer for it.”
Jazz Chisholm, Jr. hit a two-run homer, Stanton added a three-run blast and Ben Rice also went deep to support Rodón, who had to remain flexible due to weather challenges: Rodón warmed up before the scheduled 7:35 p.m. ET first pitch and had to do so again about 90 minutes later.
"A lot of good swings,” Boone said. “Every game is big. … I don’t take it lightly when we’re able to really add on and have a game like this.”
In a start that Boone described as “a little bit of a grind, especially early,” Rodón picked up his 13th win by completing six innings, allowing two runs on five hits.
With a three-run lead in the first inning and five in his pocket by the second, the big bats ensured Rodón never had to look over his shoulder.
"Once again, they made it easy,” Rodón said. “They swung the bats great. They gave me the cushion to go out there and try to attack the zone. They were incredible tonight.”