Yankees hit four home runs, Marcus Stroman sharp in return from IL in win over A's
Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting his second home run against the Athletics at Yankees Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Ed Murray
In a month in which it has felt as if too many things have gone wrong for the Yankees, a lot sure looked right on Sunday.
Former Patchogue-Medford star Marcus Stroman (knee inflammation) returned to the starting rotation for the first time in 2 1⁄2 months and tossed five excellent innings.
Aaron Judge, who entered Sunday in 2-for-16 and 10-for-57 skids, hit his 29th and 30th home runs — a pair of two-run shots — and drove in four runs. Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a solo homer and a three-run triple in the first three innings. Cody Bellinger hit a three-run homer.
Those positives all added up to a 12-5 victory over the A’s before 42,166 at the Stadium.
The Yankees (48-35) bounced back from being shut out on Saturday and have won three of their last four entering a four-game series in Toronto that begins Monday night. And while this hasn’t been a great month (13-13), they still are 13 games over .500 — the same amount at the start of June — although the 5 1⁄2-game lead they brought into the month has been cut to 1 1⁄2 games.
“We know that we’re not playing our best and we’re still out there at the top of the division and that gives us a huge advantage in our eyes,” Chisholm said. “We’re not even playing our best and we’re still up here. So we can imagine when we get back on a roll like at the beginning of the season . . . We just can’t wait for that to come back.”
Chisholm is one guy who has not been middling in June. Since returning from the injured list on June 3 after missing 28 games because of an oblique strain, he has a .318/.379/.600 slash line for a .979 OPS with six homers and 18 RBIs in 23 games.
Chisholm gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the second inning by lining a 362-foot homer into the rightfield seats. in the third, he laced a three-run triple to the gap in right-center before scoring on a wild pitch to make it 5-0.
“He’s playing at a really high level,” Aaron Boone said.
“I feel like I’m back in my era [when] I was younger, just going out there and just hitting,” Chisholm said. “[I’m] just not worrying about stuff, just not worrying about my swing, not worrying about striding too far. Everything just feels good and I’m just going.”
Judge, who struck out and walked in his first two plate appearances, hit a 402-foot homer to leftfield off Luis Severino in the fourth to make it 7-0. He smashed a 426-foot blast into the Athletics’ bullpen to put the Yankees up 12-5 in the seventh.
“I was happy to kind of deliver there and get another two runs with the second one,” Judge said.
“I never really worry about him,” Boone said.
Bellinger had three hits, including a 378-foot homer to right-center in the fifth that gave the Yankees a 10-1 lead.
Stroman, who had last pitched in a major-league game on April 11, looked like his authentic self by getting seven groundouts in the 74-pitch effort. He allowed one run on Willie MacIver’s fifth-inning home run and three hits, walking two and striking out one.
“It’s definitely good to be back,” Stroman said. “It’s an incredible team that we’re a part of. We can truly do some special things, so [I’m] just looking to do my part.”
“You see a lot of guys who come back from injuries [that] kind of seem a little more rusty or they’ve got to work on a couple things,” Judge said, “but he looked like he had 15 starts under [his] belt.”
Former Yankee Severino (2-9, 5.18) did not fare well in his first start at the Stadium in a visiting uniform. He allowed seven runs (six earned) and five hits in 3 2⁄3 innings, walking three and hitting Ben Rice twice. He also threw two wild pitches.
In his two starts against the Yankees this season, Severino allowed 15 runs (14 earned), 14 hits and five walks in 7 2⁄3 innings.
JT Brubaker replaced Stroman and faced the first seven batters in the Athletics’ sixth. The righthander recorded only one out as the Athletics used a double, a single, three walks and a hit batter to make it 10-4. Jonathan Loaisiga, who entered with the bases loaded and one out, gave up a run-scoring groundout before escaping the jam without further damage.
Tim Hill, Ian Hamilton and Luke Weaver each tossed a scoreless inning.
Notes & quotes: Rice got his third start at catcher, his natural position before the organization had him begin playing first base. He was told only the day before, but he said, “I do all the catching work before the series — study their hitters and how they’re going to match up against [us] — so getting ahead of it makes [short notice] a little more manageable.” Boone said Rice has handled the responsibilities well, adding, “In some ways, I haven’t noticed him — like in a good way.” . . . Anthony Volpe, upset about a check-swing call on his eighth-inning strikeout, was ejected by first-base umpire Chad Fairchild after throwing his helmet.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
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