Yankees Slumbering Bats Wake Up Screaming in Milwaukee

The Yankees offense finally broke out in a big way with back-to-back 15-run explosions as they rolled to yet another series win, this one in Milwaukee as they took two of three from the NL Central-leading Brewers. It’s crazy to think, because it sure hasn’t felt like this, but the Yankees are tied for the most wins in MLB with 19. Lets get to it.

Who was that team in the road grays over the weekend that was knocking the ball all around Great American Field in Milwaukee?

Before they flew up to the land of the Cheeseheads, the Yankees offense was driving all of us crazy with its never-ending string of bad at bats and lack of clutch hitting. Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, Anthony Rizzo and Austin Wells looked helpless, Anthony Volpe had crashed into a brick wall after his red-hot start, Oswaldo Cabrera was starting to remember who he is, and even Juan Soto had fallen off a bit.

In the 10 games before they arrived in Milwaukee, they had scored just 32 runs and gone 5-5 in that stretch. But then they came face to face with the Brewers pitching staff and wow, was that ever a sight for sore eyes.

The Yankees erupted for 38 runs on 43 hits in this series, and the only thing that prevented a sweep was some stupid bullpen management Friday night by Aaron Boone which helped the Brewers pull out a 7-6 victory in 11 innings.

Saturday and Sunday were otherworldly performances with the bats as 30 of the runs and 37 of the hits came in those two games. Combined, they went 13-for-31 with runners in scoring position. That’s right, they had 31 at bats in those two games with a runner in scoring position which is pretty insane.

Aaron Boone made a change to the batting order Saturday which seemed to help spark the offensive resurgence as he moved Alex Verdugo into the cleanup spot and he moved Rizzo down to six and Torres to seven. That paid instant dividends as those three players combined for 16 hits Saturday and Sunday.

How unusual was it for the Yankees to score double digit runs in back-to-back games? Last year they had only nine games all year where they scored at least 10 runs, with a high of 12. And their highest two-game total was 21 which they accomplished twice - both against the awful A’s on May 9-10 and then again June 28-29. They didn’t reach double digits in any game after that June 29 10-4 victory.

They haven’t scored at least 15 runs in back-to-back games since July 21-22, 2007, and before that it was Aug. 25-26, 1938, so yeah, this was pretty unusual.

“It’s huge,” said Judge, who homered in each of the last two games and went 4-for-8 with five RBI to finally get his average over the Mendoza line at .211. “Guys up and down the lineup having breakout days and great at-bat after great at-bat, I think that’s what it really comes down to. Even if you’re not getting results, even if you’re not getting hits, it’s just about putting up good at-bats. If you do that over the course of a whole series, season, month, good things are going to happen.”

April 26: Brewers 7, Yankees 6 (11)

The Lead: Punting on a game

The moment you saw relief pitcher Michael Tonkin walk out to the mound for the bottom of the 10th inning, you knew two things: The Yankees were not winning this game, and Boone really didn’t care much about that.

Tonkin is the very definition of a journeyman. He pitched from 2013-17 with the Twins, but from 2018-22, he was either in Japan, Mexico, or sitting out because of the pandemic. He made it back to the bigs with the Braves in 2023, but they moved on and since then the smartest thing he’s done is not unpack his suitcase.

He began this season with the Mets, pitched in three games and they dumped him. The Twins signed him on April 9 and after one outing they said no thanks. The Mets then brought him back on April 17, used him in two games and cut him again. Seeing all this, the Yankees somehow thought they could resurrect him so they signed him and trotted him out for his debut against the Brewers.

It did not go well, he wound up taking the loss, and that left Boone to explain why he basically punted the game because he could have used Clay Holmes in the 10th after the Yankees had taken the lead, but he chose not to even though Holmes threw only 10 pitches in an easy ninth inning.

“He is on about an 80-game pace in April, and with some of the attrition we’ve had in our bullpen, wasn’t going to send the closer out for - I’ll do four outs this time of year and those kind of things, but wasn’t going to send him out for a second inning,” Boone said.

Maddening. They had the lead, Holmes had been very good his last few times out, and he threw only 10 pitches. He should have been back out for the 11th and ya know what, if need be, Boone could have stayed away from him in the final two games.

You win the game at hand and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. Saturday and Sunday could have been blowouts (which is exactly what happened on both days) with no need for Holmes, so why not use him in the moment and give yourself the best chance to win a game that was right there to be won?

Game notes and observations:

➤ The night started well as Soto homered in the first and Verdugo homered in the second for a quick 2-0 lead. Later, the night’s most shocking moment occurred when Trent Grisham, 0-for-12 as a Yankee, hit a three-run homer that put the Yankees up 5-4.

➤ The Yankees had fallen behind because Luis Gil had his worst start of the year. He served up a two-run homer to Joey Ortiz in the second and a two-run homer to Blake Perkins in the third. And then in the sixth, he gave up a leadoff double to Gary Sanchez - yes, Gary Sanchez who is, surprise, surprise, hitting less than .200 - and Sanchez scored the tying run when Ron Marinaccio gave up a sacrifice fly.

➤ The game stayed tied through nine, and in the 10th, another shocker as Giancarlo Stanton drilled a pinch-hit RBI double to score the automatic runner from second. This improved his career line to 4-for-43 as a pinch hitter. However, the Yankees couldn’t get home with the key second run.

➤ It took four pitches for Tonkin to piss away the lead as he gave up an RBI single to Willy Adames. Then in the 11th, the Yankees made another ridiculous out on the bases thanks to the stupid contact play. Jahmai Jones was on third with one out when Verdugo grounded right back to the pitcher. Jones went, and he was out by 20 feet. Just so incredibly stupid that the Yankees do this time after time. They wound up not scoring, and in the bottom of the 11th, within five Tonkin pitches the game was over when Brice Turang drove in the winner.

➤ The Yankees are now 3-15 in road extra-inning games since 2022. That's the worst record among all teams over the last three seasons.

April 27: Yankees 15, Brewers 3

The Lead: Finally, an offensive explosion

This was certainly a pleasure, wasn’t it? For the first time in 28 games this season the Yankees reached double digits. They had a season-high 19 hits in all with Verdugo, Torres and Rizzo all getting three while Judge, Stanton and Wells had two each.

There’s a few names in that previous paragraph who really needed a feel good night like this. Now we’ll see what it means going forward. The only starter who didn’t get a hit was Volpe.

“That was pretty good, right?” Boone said of the offense. “Good to see just everyone contributing and having a big night offensively.”

Game notes and observations:

➤ Verdugo’s switch to cleanup was deserved because he has been on a little roll lately and he got the fireworks started in the first with a three-run homer off Joe Ross following Volpe (hit by pitch) and Soto (walk) reaching base.

➤ Then in the third, the biggest hit of the night came from Torres. Still mired in a miserable slump, he delivered a bases-clearing three-run double to the gap in right-center to make it 6-1. He had two RBIs all year before topping that total with one swing. Big moment for him, and from there, the Yankees poured it on. “Amazing, amazing,” said Torres. “Finally I do something for the team, especially in that situation. A lot of work in the cage. Finally I see the results for tonight and I feel happy.”

➤ In the fifth Cabrera had an RBI single, and in the sixth, Soto walked and Judge hit a two-run homer, and Verdugo singled and Rizzo hit a two-run homer that made it 11-1. The last four runs came in the ninth as the Brewers used third baseman Owen Miller as their pitcher. Verdugo had a sacrifice fly and then Stanton crushed a three-run homer to dead center. I kind of rolled my eyes on that one.

➤ Carlos Rodon pitched very well to get an easy win. He went six innings and allowed just one run (a solo homer by Rhys Hoskins in the second) on two hits and a walk while striking out eight. Gotta say, he has put 2023 behind him and is starting to show why the Yankees gave him $162 million.

April 28: Yankees 15, Brewers 5

The Lead: More big bats, and a big paw

Judge certainly lent a helping hand to this victory, literally. He went 3-for-4 including his sixth home run, but his biggest contribution might have come during the Yankees’ seven-run sixth inning which blew the game open.

Judge led off with a walk and then Verdugo hit what should have been a routine double play grounder. However, as Judge was sliding into second he raised his left arm and Milwaukee shortstop Willy Adames’ relay throw to first hit Judge’s oven mitt which allowed Verdugo to reach. The Brewers argued for interference, which it absolutely was, but the umpires allowed Verdugo to stay at first.

“That’s never happened before in my life,” Judge said. “I’ve been sliding like that for years. You can look back at any picture you want of me sliding into second base; that's always happened. I really don't know. I feel like there was plenty of time (for Adames) to go around. I’m just doing my job sliding into the base.”

After the game, following a video review, crew chief Andy Fletcher admitted that they made a mistake and Verdugo should have been ruled out because Judge’s raised hand “wasn’t a natural part of his slide. Fletcher said, “We did everything we could to get together and get it right. But after looking at it, it appears that it should’ve been called interference.”

But by then it was too late. When Stanton popped out, it should have been the third out, inning over and the game still tied at 4-4. Instead, the Yankees went crazy against Brewers relievers Abner Uribe and Elvin Peguero as they strung together four hits, three walks, a double steal and took advantage of a wild pitch and a passed ball to score the most runs they’ve scored in any inning this year.

Game notes and observations:

➤ Judge’s solo homer opened the scoring and Volpe celebrated his 23rd birthday with a much-needed three-run homer off Brewers starter Tobias Meyers in the fifth. It looked like the Yankees might be in for another easy game, but then Marcus Stroman quickly gave it all away in the bottom of the fifth.

➤ Stroman really hadn’t had any command in the first four innings but he left six men stranded including Sal Frelick who led off the bottom of the third with a triple and never scored. But in the fifth it all caught up to Stroman. He faced five men and they all reached base with Adams hitting an RBI double and Jake Bauers - yes, former Yankee Jake Bauers who couldn’t hit a softball last season - launched a game-tying three-run homer. Stroman then walked Sanchez and that was it for him so Ron Marinaccio entered and got through the inning with the game still tied.

➤ Then came the sixth. With two outs and Verdugo on first, here’s what happened: Rizzo walked; Torres hit an RBI single; Cabrera walked to load the bases; Jose Trevino hit a two-run single; Peguero came in and threw a wild pitch that scored Cabrera; Volpe walked; Soto hit an RBI single; Volpe and Soto pulled off a double steal; and Judge ripped a two-run single to make it 11-4. Got all that?

➤ The Yankees scored twice in the seventh on a Cabrera RBI single and Trevino sac fly and in the eighth, Rizzo completed a 4-for-4 day with a two-run homer, the 300th of his MLB career.

➤ Besides Stroman’s tough day, Ian Hamilton had another questionable performance. He pitched the bottom of the sixth and like Stroman, had zero command. Marinaccio gave up a double so Boone went to Hamilton and he gave up that run on a single, a wild pitch and hit batter. The bullpen continues to struggle, particularly Hamilton who is supposed to be a high leverage guy this season.

Now the Yankees head to Baltimore for the first four of 13 games against the team that almost everyone believes is going to ultimately win the AL East, and one that won’t be in a great mood after losing two of three over the weekend to the pesky A’s. Sunday, Orioles closer Craig Kimbrel gave up two runs in the ninth to give the A’s a shocking 7-6 victory.

The A’s series aside, the 17-10 Orioles have been every bit as good as we thought they’d be on offense with their relentless lineup. They lead MLB with 44 home runs, are fifth in average (.257) and third in OPS (.773). It hasn’t been as clean on the mound as they rank 13th in ERA (3.87), but with an offense like this, the Orioles can afford to give up a few runs.

One player the Yankees won’t see is the No. 1 prospect in MLB, second baseman Jackson Holliday. He was called up a few weeks ago to trumpets blaring, but the 20-year-old was overwhelmed, went 2-for-34, and was sent back to Triple-A the other day. Simply put, the Orioles don’t need to rush him.

The pitching matchups are as follows: Monday at 6:35 on YES it’s Clarke Schmidt (3.55 ERA) against Grayson Rodriguez (4.55); Tuesday at 6:35 on YES it’s Nestor Cortes (3.50) against Dean Kremer (4.61); Wednesday at 6:35 on Amazon Prime it’s Luis Gil (4.01) against Corbin Burnes (2.55); and Thursday at 1:05 on YES it’s Rodon (2.48) versus a TBD.