NEW YORK — What exactly happened during the 35 minutes the tarp covered the Yankee Stadium infield Tuesday night? Not much, Austin Wells said — just “some time to relax.” But when the skies cleared, the Yankees’ bats finally woke up. Bad weather didn’t mean bad news.
Held to just a Cody Bellinger single through the first four innings by a sharp Logan Gilbert, the Yankees erupted once play resumed, thumping the Mariners, 10-3, in the opener of a three-game series in the Bronx.
“We were just getting balls more in the middle of the plate,” said Giancarlo Stanton, who broke the game open with a three-run blast off Gilbert in the sixth inning. “Just being on time with balls in the zone. I think the third time through [the order] helps, too.”
Stanton, Wells, and Aaron Judge each homered after the delay, with Stanton opening the floodgates with a Statcast-projected 401-foot drive that rocketed off his bat at 106.1 mph.
Wells followed with a two-run shot off Casey Legumina, and Judge added his team-leading 34th homer in the seventh. He remains two behind MLB leader Cal Raleigh, who hit his 36th in the eighth.
“Big swings — big swings,” Bellinger said. “That was fun to watch.”
Oswald Peraza played a flawless game at third base and drove in New York’s first run with a fifth-inning infield single.
“I thought Peraza made a couple of really good [plays] over there. I thought Jazz looked good. … The infield defense was really good,” Boone said.
From there, the big bats took over. Stanton unloaded on a flat Gilbert slider in the sixth, belting a three-run opposite-field shot to right, his second homer of the season.
“There’s no place that can hold Big G,” Boone said. “We need him to be that presence that he is in the middle.”
Stanton agreed that his swing seems to be trending in the right direction, back to driving balls in the air after a steady stream of grounders following his activation from the injured list.
“I think it’s some good steps,” Stanton said. “Just staying inside the ball, getting some lift to it. I feel like I’ve been having one or two good at-bats a game, where I need to make that four or five to get some good results.”
Wells launched his 14th homer, a 414-foot drive that prompted Boone to say: “This is what he’s capable of.” With a couple of homers in this past weekend’s Subway Series against the Mets, Wells has homered in three consecutive games for the first time in his career.
“Just getting some good pitches to hit, giving myself a little bit more time to see the ball,” Wells said.
The offensive outburst supported Will Warren, who rebounded nicely from a rough outing in Toronto, where he allowed eight runs on July 2.
This time, the rookie right-hander blanked the Mariners over 5 2/3 innings.
“I would like to say that I flushed it right away, but I think you take every outing and learn from it — good or bad,” Warren said. “Obviously, the bad ones hurt a little more.”
Boone especially lauded Warren’s sinker, saying that the depth of that pitch appeared to be “really good” from the skipper’s perch in the dugout.
“He was filling up the strike zone, which was good to see,” Boone said.
Leaning on his defenders, Warren scattered four hits, walking two and striking out four.
“We’ve got a lot of Gold Glovers back there, so it’s real nice to let them hit the ball and put it in play,” Warren said.
Though it didn’t factor prominently in the final result, this duel between the Majors’ home run leaders did not disappoint.
Judge cleared the wall facing Legumina for a solo shot in the seventh, a 345-footer to the short porch. Raleigh responded with a blast off Geoff Hartlieb in a three-run eighth.
“I think it’s what both sides are pretty ho-hum, used to seeing — for them to put one on the board,” Boone said. “You’ve got two guys in the mid-30s [home run totals] at this point in the season. It’s just a testament to how special of a season both of them are in the midst of.”