CLEVELAND, Ohio — On Friday night, the New York Yankees (8-11) finally put the “bombs” back in the “Bronx Bombers” moniker. After falling behind by 3 runs, the Yankees clubbed 4 home runs in a 5-3 comeback defeat of Cleveland (8-10). Giancarlo Stanton provided 2 homers in his best performance of the season.
The Yankees looked to be in trouble early as Cleveland pushed 3 runs across in the first inning. Early, Starter Jordan Montgomery had trouble locating his stuff, resulting in 2 first-inning walks. Cleveland capitalized with a Franmil Reyes RBI Double and an Amed Rosario RBI Single.
In response, the Yankees started their long-ball parade in the 2nd inning. Outfielder Aaron Hicks clubbed a 397-foot bomb to get the Yankees on the board. Later in the inning, Rougned Odor tied the game with a 2-run shot of his own.
In the next inning, Stanton broke the tie with a 429-foot moonshot to start his monster night. Then, he took a 5th inning 0-2 fastball 419 feet to right-center for his 2nd homer on the night. Those marked his 4th and 5th homers of 2021, which leads the Yankees.
That score stood as the Yankees opened up their eight-game road trip with back-to-back wins. Reliever Lucas Luetge picked up his first win of 2021, pitching 1.1 scoreless innings in relief of Montgomery. Aroldis Chapman picked up his 4th save of the year; by holding Cleveland scoreless, he extends his scoreless inning streak to 7 straight in 2021 and 14.2 since September 4, 2020. For Cleveland, starter Logan Allen suffers his 3rd loss on the season with 4 earned runs in 2.1 IP.
Yankees’ offense finds life
Through the New York Yankees’ first 18 games, their offense had been a letdown. As a team, their 18 home runs, .338 slugging percentage, and .211 batting average ranked near the bottom of the MLB. That may fly with teams in a rebuild, but not in the Bronx; the Yankees consider themselves World Series contenders and hold the 2nd-highest payroll in baseball.
On Friday, the offense showed the signs of life Yankees fans are looking for. The Yankees had no more than 2 homers in a game before Friday. Now, the four-homer night doubles the season-high total.
No individual needed the night more than Stanton. He entered the game with just 3 hits in his last 34 at-bats and had no multi-hit games in 2021. Now, he owns the third multi-homerun game of the Yankees’ season.
