Yankees' offense explodes in 8-4 win over Giants

The Yankees’ offense exploded for eight runs, including a five-run fifth inning, on 11 hits that pushed them to an 8-4 win over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday afternoon in the Bronx.

With the weather misty, cold and windy again, the Yankees shook off the elements thanks to solid pitching and timely hitting.

Here are the takeaways…

-Saturday’s starter, Will Warren, already gave the Yankees more than Marcus Stroman did on Friday. Warren pitched around a two-out walk to get out of the first inning unscathed and threw just 16 pitches in the opening frame as opposed to Stroman’s 46.

But the young righty couldn’t keep the early lead, giving up a two-run homer to Wilmer Flores to tie things up at 2-2 in the second. Surprisingly, Flores pulled into a tie for the MLB lead with his sixth dinger of the season. After he gave up the homer to Flores, Warren settled down, sitting down 10 straight Giants with four strikeouts among them — and aided by some stellar defense from Goldschmidt. After giving up a two-out walk to the No. 9 hitter, pitching coach Matt Blake came out to talk to Warren. The talk must have settled him down, as Warren responded by punching out Mike Yastrzemski for the third time and put a bow on the outing.

Warren was great after the Flores home run, giving the Yankees some length they desperately needed. While Warren wasn’t as efficient as he’d like (91 pitches/54 strikes), he got through five innings, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks while striking out six batters.

-After scoring just one run in five innings on Friday, the Yankees got on the board early thanks to Cody Bellinger. The outfielder launched a pitch the opposite way that continued to carry all the way to the wall. The Giants’ Heliot Ramos could not track the ball down at the wall as it kicked passed him for a triple, scoring Aaron Judge — who singled — from first. Paul Goldschmidt followed with a sac fly to give the Yankees an early 2-0 lead.

Judge would come up in the second with two outs and the bases loaded, but the captain grounded out on a 1-1 pitch to end the threat.

-Bellinger would come through again in the fifth, following Ben Rice and Judge singles with a single of his own to give the Yankees back the lead, 3-2. Goldschmidt would follow with an opposite-field double that scored another — and would have been more if it didn’t go into the stands. Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked to load the bases — and chase starter Jordan Hicks — and an Anthony Volpe sac fly drove in another run.

Jasson Dominguez capped off the five-run inning with a two-run single, going the other way.

-Things got dicey in the top half of the sixth. With Fernando Cruz on the mound, Chisholm had a chance to turn a double play, but his errant throw pulled Volpe off of second, allowing everyone to be safe. Cruz then walked the bases loaded with no out, but got Ramos to fly out to first base, LaMonte Wade Jr. to strikeout swinging. Flores then came up and hit a two-run single to cut the Yankees lead to 7-4.

Luke Weaver was called in to get the final out of the sixth, which he did with a strikeout of Sam Huff. Weaver work out of trouble in the seventh, getting Matt Chapman to strikeout swinging with men on second and third and two outs.

Mark Leiter Jr. worked in and out of trouble in the eighth and Devin Williams was called in for the ninth in a non-save situation. He gave up a leadoff walk and then a double before striking out the next two batters out swinging on his patented changeup. He got Ramos to groundout to end the game.

Despite some hiccups, the Yankees bullpen did not allow an earned run in four innings.

-Rice would get one of those runs back in the home half of the sixth. On the first pitch he saw from former Yankee Lou Trivino, Rice launched a blast over the right field wall at 113.2 mph, the hardest-hit ball of his career.

Game MVP: Cody Bellinger

After being unable to get runs on Friday, it was important that Bellinger got the Yankees on the board in the first and giving them the lead back in the fifth.

Highlights

What’s next

The Yankees and Giants complete their three-game set on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.

Carlos Rodon takes the mound for the Yankees while the Giants will send out Logan Webb.

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