Giancarlo Stanton hits two of Yankees' nine home runs in 13-3 rout of Rays

The Yankees smashed nine home runs in their 13-3 rout of the Rays in Tampa Bay on Tuesday night.

With the win, New York extended its winning streak to four games, and after the Mariners and Red Sox lost earlier in the evening, the Yankees (68-57) are now alone atop the AL wild card race. 

Here are the takeaways…

-After nearly a two-hour weather delay, the Yankees sluggers brought the thunder when the game started. Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton went back-to-back-to-back with one out in the first inning to give New York an early 3-0 lead off of starter Shane Baz.

The power display didn't end there. Jose Caballero launched a two-run shot in the second inning, his first with the Yankees. The blast came minutes after the Rays showed a tribute video to Caballero in between innings.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. joined in the homer party, launching a solo shot to right field in the third inning.

Entering Tuesday's game, the most home runs Baz allowed in a game was three. The Yankees put up five off the young starter, but it didn't end when Baz was pulled. Against the bullpen, the Yankees would smash two more homers in the fourth inning. Stanton's three-run blast and Ben Rice following with a solo shot put New York up 10-2 and put the home run counter to seven.

Bellinger launched his second blast of the game with his two-run shot in the sixth. The Yankees' power display finished with Caballero going yard a second time in the ninth inning to set the final home run count to nine. The Yankees have hit eight-plus homers four times in their history, and two have come this season. Their nine homers tie a franchise record, which was set this season on March 29 against the Brewers.

–Carlos Rodon had a bit of trouble with control thanks to the heat in Tampa. Rodon, a notorious sweater, could not get a good grip on the ball. He was constantly wiping his pitching arm on his pants leg. The rain in the area made it much more humid than it was earlier in the day, but Rodon worked through it, getting out of a two-baserunner jam in the first. 

Rodon's control issues continued in the second inning as the Rays batters barrelled up his pitches in the zone for hits. Three straight singles pushed across Tampa's first run. Chandler Simpson's fielder's choice got the Rays another run before Rodon picked up the third out, still leading 5-2.

But that's all the Rays would get on Rodon, who gutted through six innings (102 pitches/64 strikes), allowing two runs on five hits, two walks and striking out five. 

-The combination of Mark Leiter Jr., Yerry De Los Santos and Tim Hill picked up the final nine outs, but after Leiter pitched a clean seventh, De Los Santos struggled in the eighth. He allowed one run on two hits and a walk. Hill allowed one hit in an otherwise clean ninth inning to finish the game.

-Stanton, starting his first game since the homestand last week after feeling general soreness from playing right field on multiple days, showed how important he is to the Yankees lineup. Starting in right field, Stanton finished 2-for-3 and a walk with two blasts while driving in four runs. It's his first multi-homer game since June 2023.

Manager Aaron Boone would pull Stanton after his fourth at-bat to give his slugger the rest of the game off his feet. Jasson Dominguez would replace him and go 0-for-1 in his lone AB.

Bellinger had his second multi-homer game of the season. The first was his three-homer game against the Cubs back in July. He finished 4-for-5.

Game MVP: The Yankees offense

Hard to give it to one batter.

Highlights

What's next

The Yankees and Rays finish their brief two-game set on Wednesday night. First pitch is set for 7:35 p.m.

Cam Schlittler (1-2, 3.94 ERA) will take on Drew Rasmussen (10-5, 2.60 ERA).

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