Yankees Take Series Behind Stellar Jhony Brito Debut

The Yankees took control of the game in the third inning when Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton hit tape-measure home runs for a 3-0 lead. They would push across three more runs from there, while Brito and the Yankee bullpen continued to shut down the Giants’ lineup.

Brito labored a bit in the first inning, throwing at least six pitches in three at-bats. He struck out LaMonte Wade Jr. on four pitches for his first major league strikeout, but needed ten pitches to retire Michael Conforto. After allowing a single to J.D. Davis after six pitches, Brito battled Joc Pederson for seven pitches before grabbing a come backer and flipping it over to Anthony Rizzo at first base.

Although it would eventually be inconsequential, the Yankees still squandered another bases-loaded opportunity in the bottom of the first. Gleyber Torres led off with a single, but Ross Stripling responded by striking out Judge. After walking Rizzo, Stanton hit a soft liner to Brandon Crawford for the second out. Josh Donaldson then walked to load the bases, but Stripling struck out Oswaldo Cabrera to end the threat.

Fortunately for the Yankees, Brito firmly settled in after his long first frame. After inducing Mike Yastrzemski to ground out, the young righty struck out five consecutive batters, including striking out the side in the top of the third inning. In the bottom of the third, the Yankee lineup came to life and gave Brito all the runs he needed.

With one out, Judge caught hold of a hanging slider and hit a 111 mph frozen rope to left field, his second home run of the season. After Rizzo hit an infield single, Stripling threw another hanging slider to Stanton.

What Stanton did to that pitch needs to be seen to be believed. He launched it completely over the batter’s eye (the Mohegan Sun sports bar), a monstrous 485 feet away from home plate at 118 mph. It was the second longest “Stantonian blast” that Stanton hit in his career, and it extended the lead to 3-0.

Brito started the top of the fourth by walking Conforto, but he quickly wiped the bases clean by inducing a double play ball from Davis. Pederson then followed with a deep fly ball to dead center, but it was caught by Isiah Kiner-Falefa to end the inning. This was IKF’s first game in center field, and he made all the plays he needed to make.

The Yankees added another run in the fourth inning, when Kyle Higashioka , in his first game of the young season, barreled a pitch way above the strike zone and launched it into the left field seats for a 4-0 advantage.

The top of the fifth would be Brito’s last inning. After allowing a bunt single to Yastrzemski, Kiner-Falefa hauled in another deep fly ball off the bat of David Villar. Brito then retired Crawford and Blake Sabol to end his day, and was congratulated by his teammates in the dugout after a fantastic debut.

The Giants mounted their only serious threat in the top of the sixth against Jimmy Cordero . After Thairo Estrada hit an infield single, the former Yankee moved to second on a missed catch error by Rizzo. Cordero then plunked Wade Jr. during the same at-bat, and after striking out Conforto, threw a wild pitch that moved up the runners to second and third. But Cordero stepped up by striking out Davis, and Ron Marinaccio retired Pederson for the last out, who got a great pitch to hit but got under it, to his frustration.

After Marinaccio retired the side in the seventh, the Yankees scored two runs in the seventh without getting a hit. Anthony Volpe drew a leadoff walk against Sean Hjelle, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After a walk to Torres and a strikeout by Judge, Volpe and Torres swiped second and third, respectively. Volpe became the first Yankee since Fritz Maisel in 1913 to steal three bases in his first three games.

After Rizzo drove in Volpe with a sacrifice fly, Hjelle uncorked two more wild pitches, allowing Torres to score and conclude the game’s scoring.

Recently acquired bullpen arm Colton Brewer would officially make his Yankee debut in the eighth inning, and collected the last six outs of the game while allowing no hits and just two baserunners. After Villar grounded out to Torres, the Yankees improved their record to 2-1.

The Yankees will begin a new series on Monday, also in the Bronx, against the defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies. First pitch will be at 7:00 p.m. ET.

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