About Yesterday: Yanks Defeat Brewers 12-3

About Yesterday Afternoon: The Yankees Bottled up the Brewers 12-3

By Tim Kabel

March 31, 2025

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The Yankees demolished the Brewers yesterday afternoon, sweeping the series. The Yankees scored 36 runs in the three-game series. That averages out to a lot of runs. The Yankees offense was firing on all cylinders, and they easily steamrolled the Brewers. All you need to know is that Jake Bauers, a position player, and probably the last man on the roster for the Brewers, was their best pitcher this weekend. Now, it is very early in the season and the Yankees got off to a very hot start last year before hitting their usual prolonged slump in the middle of the year. Every time I refer to one of them as a “Boone Swoon” I owe my friend Brian a dollar because he coined the phrase after reading one of my articles. For now, everything is great and that's all we really need to concentrate on.

Quick Stats – 

·       The Yankees tied a Major League record by hitting15 home runs in their first three games of the season.

·       Aaron Judge became the first player in Yankees’ history to hit four home runs in the first three games of the season. Considering the players who have worn the Yankees’ uniform, that is a bit surprising.

·       Jazz Chisholm, Jr. hit two home runs and has three for the season. With all the hullabaloo about the new “torpedo bats” that Chisholm and Volpe are using, I bet DJ LeMahieu will be ordering one soon. It won't matter, his battleship was sunk a long time ago. The idea of custom-made bats is really not a big deal. It certainly worked for Roy Hobbs, didn't it?

·        Anthony Volpe was the only starter not to get on base. That demonstrates how circular the Yankees’ lineup is, at least at the beginning of the season.

·       Things were not so rosy for the Yankees AL East rivals. Rafael Devers set a Major League record by striking out 10 times in the Red Sox first three games. Max Scherzer was placed on the IL by the Blue Jays with thumb inflammation.

·      On March 30th, 1984, Graig Nettles was traded from the New York Yankees to the San Diego Padres for Dennis Rasmussen.

·      On March 30th, 2001, Dwight Gooden retired with a lifetime record of 194-112.

The Big Story – 

It seems likely that the Yankees will have to rely on their offense this season, at least until Clarke Schmidt and eventually, Luis Gil return to the rotation. Through the first series, the lineup appears as if it will be up to the challenge. The Yankees scored 36 runs this weekend. Obviously, that will not happen in every three-game series. However, the lineup appears to be explosive and not totally reliant on Aaron Judge. Clearly, he is a generational player and will always be the key to the Yankees’ success. But unlike last season, Judge seems to have a lot of help. The Yankees do not have any individual player other than Judge who is as good as Juan Soto, but the overall lineup appears to be far superior to the one they fielded last season. Will that last? It probably should but, as we all know seeing the starting rotation collapse due to injuries in Spring Training, anything can happen.

Player of the Game – 

Jazz Chisolm, Jr. hit two home runs and drove in five runs I think he will really come into his own as a Yankee in his first full season in the Bronx.

Notable Performances – 

Aaron Judge and Ben Rice added home runs for the Yankees.

Better To Forget-

It would be hard to find fault with the Yankees in a game which they won 12-3 that was part of a three-game sweep in which they hit 15 home runs and scored 36 runs. I suppose there are people who could find something negative to say but, I'm not one of them.

My Take –  

It would be very easy to look at what the Yankees did to the Milwaukee Brewers this weekend and think they will have an easy journey back to the World Series this season. They very well may do so; however, it has been a pattern for the Yankees under the leadership of Aaron Boone to have amazing winning streaks and then collapse almost to the point and sometimes to the point of losing their lead in the standings. Aaron Boone has never been able to put his finger on the causes of either the winning streaks or the losing streaks. He's just there, like Forrest Gump in the middle of history. Things happen, “for no particular reason” and it's as if Boone is sitting on a bench at a bus stop munching on chocolates. Remember, Forrest Gump was successful and became wealthy because his boat was the only one that just happened to survive the hurricane. Aaron Boone seems to follow the Forrest Gump philosophy of management: “Hope for the best.”

I used to have a boss who would yell at me every single day. No matter what, I knew when my day started, I would be in trouble for something at some point during the day. I never knew what it would be or when it would happen, I just knew that it was coming. No matter what I did, or didn't do, the yelling would occur. Eventually, I accepted it for what it was and didn't let it destroy me.

For the Yankees, losing streaks, lengthy ones, or Boone Swoons are the same way. We know the team is going to have one this season; we just don't know when it will happen or how long it will last. No one ever has any explanation as to how the losing streaks start or why they start or how to end them, least of all the manager. So, before we get too giddy watching the Yankees dismantle teams at the beginning of the season, we should brace ourselves for what will come inevitably. It's like enduring a winter in Montana. You know what's coming. There's not much you can do about it. Enjoy the sunny days while they last and hope for their return.

Next Up – 

The Yankees will resume play tomorrow against the Arizona Diamondbacks at 7:05 PM at Yankee Stadium after having today off. Corbin Burnes will pitch for Arizona. The Yankees will send Will Warren to the mound. Let's hope that where there is a Will, there is a win.