By KRISTIE ACKERT Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — José Caballero hit two home runs in 86 games with the Tampa Bay Rays this season.
The speedy utilityman matched that total in one night Tuesday as the New York Yankees put on quite a power show.
“I think it’s from hanging around with these guys,” Caballero explained after helping his new team to a 13-3 victory over the Rays.
In his first game back at George M. Steinbrenner Field to face his former club, Caballero connected twice for his first career multihomer game.
And he was hardly alone.
Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger both hit two home runs, Aaron Judge launched his 40th of the season and the Yankees equaled a franchise record with nine longballs in a game delayed nearly two hours by rain at the start.
New York also hit nine homers in its second game of the year, a 20-9 victory over Milwaukee on March 29 at Yankee Stadium. That makes the 2025 Bronx Bombers the first squad in major league history to hit nine home runs in a game twice in one season.
“We have a really good offense,” Bellinger said. “You’re going to have ebbs and flows of a 162-game season. It’s not always going to be pretty, but we all believe in each other and the talent is there. We’re doing a good job of putting it all together. It’s really fun to be a part of.”
It was just the fourth time a big league team has hit nine or more homers in a game. The record is 10, set by the Toronto Blue Jays on Sept. 14, 1987.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ben Rice also went deep for the Yankees, who won their fourth straight and looked awfully comfortable in a road game at their spring training home.
New York took full advantage of the cozy dimensions before a crowd of 10,046 at George M. Steinbrenner Field, where the Rays are playing while Tropicana Field undergoes repairs.
Judge, Bellinger and Stanton went back-to-back-to-back off Shane Baz to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead four batters into the game.
With that, New York became the first MLB team to hit three consecutive homers in the first inning three times in one season (also March 29 and April 29).
“The first three were just kind of no-doubters, with Judge hitting it almost all the way up the batter’s eye, and then Belly really leaning on one,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “And then Giancarlo, getting to two strikes there, just shot it the other way. In their own kind of way, three really good statement at-bats.”
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb