The torpedoes kept firing in the Bronx on Sunday as the New York Yankees continued their barrage on Milwaukee Brewers pitching with three home runs in a 7-3 win.
Aaron Judge began the fireworks with a two-run shot off Aaron Civale in the first inning. With that shot into the seats, Judge became the first player in Yankees history to hit four homers in the team’s first three games of a season.
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The Yankees followed that up with home runs in each of the next two innings. Ben Rice hit a solo shot with two outs in the second, while Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed up with a two-run blast — also with two outs — after Civale intentionally walked Judge to face the Yankees’ second baseman.
Civale was battered for five runs on four hits, three of them being home runs, lasting three innings.
Chisholm added a three-run homer in the seventh inning that helped the Yankees tie the MLB record with 15 home runs hit in the first three games of the season.
The only historic home run feat that the Yankees didn’t achieve or get near during the past two games is not hitting a leadoff shot for the third consecutive game.
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Austin Wells went deep in the team’s season opener, become the first catcher to ever hit a leadoff homer in MLB history. Paul Goldschmidt batted leadoff on Saturday and opened the blitz on former Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes with a home run. Goldschmidt did not lead off with a homer on Sunday, but he did hit a single and came around to score on Judge’s long ball.
The Yankees’ four home runs on Sunday followed up a nine-homer eruption on Saturday, beginning with three deep balls on Milwaukee’s first three pitches of the game. The Bronx bombing continued, resulting in seven home runs in the opening three innings, which set a MLB record.
This home run onslaught from the Yankees comes amid the revelation that several of the team’s hitters are using newly designed bats that put more wood in the lower part of the barrel. As a result of more mass toward the “sweet spot” of the bat, closer to the handle, the new bats are shaped more like bowling pins or torpedoes.
Utilizing hardware that other teams aren’t employing would seemingly lead to controversy and objection among the other 29 MLB clubs. However, the bats are legal, fulfilling the guidelines outlined by baseball rules — specifically, MLB Rule 3.02 (via The Athletic):
“The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood.” It also notes that “experimental” bats can’t be used “until the manufacturer has secured approval from Major League Baseball of his design and methods of manufacture.”
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How many Yankees batters are using the “torpedo” bats isn’t clear. Judge isn’t one of them, however. Asked why he hasn’t tried the new bats, last season’s American League MVP and major league home run leader told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, “What I’ve done the past couple of seasons speaks for itself.”
With 95 homers during the past two seasons — and 157 over the last three — Judge makes a very convincing argument for sticking with what works for him.
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