Yankees hit three home runs in 8-3 win over Blue Jays

The Yankees got back on the winning track, hitting three home runs to beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-3, on Saturday afternoon in the Bronx.

Here are the takeaways…

– Aaron Judge hit his league-leading 16th first-inning home run of the season, pushing his total to 41 HRs on the year, to give the Yanks a 2-1 lead. It’s tied for the third most first-inning homers in a season in MLB history with Babe Ruth (1927) and Sammy Sosa (2001), only trailing Alex Rodriguez‘s 18 (2001) and Mark McGwire‘s 17 (1999).

In his next at-bat, Judge was intentionally walked by Blue Jays starter Jose Berrios with no one on base and two outs in the bottom of the second. The last time that happened in an MLB game was on Aug. 10, 1972, when the Angels walked Twins catcher Glenn Borgmann (h/t Bryan Hoch).

Toronto opted to pitch to Judge his third time at the plate with the bases empty and two outs in the bottom of the fourth, but the slugger went down swinging. Judge later walked and singled. He finished the game 2-for-3 with two walks and two RBI.

– Trent Grisham pushed the Yankees’ lead to 4-1 in the second inning with a two-run homer to right field. It’s his seventh homer of the year and first since July 14 against Baltimore when he hit his only long-ball last month.

– Carlos Rodon let up a two-out homer to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the first but bounced back to get the third out and went on to retire eight straight Blue Jays into the fourth inning. Guerrero Jr. got the best of Rodon again in the fourth, hitting a single with one out, but the left-handed pitcher managed to escape the inning without allowing any damage.

Rodon walked George Springer to open the sixth and then struck out Joey Loperfido. Aaron Boone came out for a mound visit, but allowed Rodon to stay in to face Guerrero Jr. for a third time. The move backfired as the slugger doubled down the first base line, ending Rodon’s afternoon. RHP Jake Cousins came in for relief and allowed a two-run single to Alejandro Kirk, cutting the lead to 6-3. Rodon finished after 106 pitches over 5.1 innings, allowing three earned runs on three hits with eight strikeouts.

– Anthony Volpe hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to give the Yanks a 6-1 lead. It’s No. 11 on the season for the 23-year-old, as he’s now homered in back-to-back games and has five in the last 11 games dating back to July 22. Volpe drove in an insurance run in the seventh with a single to push the lead to 7-3. Austin Wells knocked in another with a single in the eighth to make it 8-3.

– After getting benched mid-game on Friday night, Gleyber Torres got the start at second base and batted fifth. He went 1-for-4 with a walk, a run scored, and a strikeout.

– Mark Leiter Jr. came in to pitch the ninth, but allowed three singles to load the bases. After getting an infield pop-up for the second out, Boone opted to bring Clay Holmes in to get the final out. The righty struck out Springer to end the game.

Game MVP: Aaron Judge

After Rodon allowed a solo homer to Guerrero Jr. in the top of the first, Judge’s two-run HR in the bottom half of the inning set the day’s tone for the Yankees. They never looked back and continued hitting all afternoon. The homer even scared Toronto into intentionally walking the slugger.

Judge is now 14-for-27 (.519) over his last seven games with five homers, 11 RBI, nine walks, and 10 strikeouts.

Highlights

What’s next

The Yankees wrap up their three-game series with the Blue Jays on Sunday at 1:35 p.m.

Gerrit Cole (3-2, 5.40 ERA) returns to the mound for New York while RHP Yariel Rodriguez (1-4, 4.31 ERA) starts for Toronto.