Yankees 3, Giants 1

By Mike Whiteman March 29, 2026 On this day way back in 2025, the Yankees whipped the Brewers 20-9, homering on the first three pitches they saw from Milwaukee starter and old friend Nestor Cortes. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA202503290.shtml

https://www.mlb.com/news/paul-goldschmidt-cody-bellinger-aaron-judge-homer-on-first-three-pitches Quick Stats: The Yankees are on a pace for 162 wins. Aaron Judge projects to 108 home runs. Sorry, couldn't resist. The Yankee pitching staff allowed on run in the three-game series against San Francisco - that's a 0.33 ERA.

Big Story: After Friday's slight lineup veer due to a lefty starter, the "regular" order was back yesterday. Ben Rice celebrated his return by opening the scoring with a two-run double in the third inning. After the Giants got a run back, Aaron Judge's second home run of the season - which dented an ambulance beyond the left field wall - gave the Yankees a 3-1 lead after five innings. In the sixth, Bett Headrick, who had relieved starter Will Warren in the fifth, allowed a leadoff double to Rafael Devers and yielded to Jake Bird. After allowing a single, Bird struck out Willy Adames and induced old friend Harrison Bader to ground into a double play to get out of the threat. Bird got two outs in the seventh and Tim Hill tossed a scoreless inning and a third to set up David Bednar. The Yankee closer appeared to strike out Heliot Ramos to open the ninth, but the Giant left fielder overturned the strike call via ABS and worked a walk. Adames singled and things suddenly felt tense. No worries though, as Bednar struck out Bader and induced Patrick Bailey to hit a grounder to second base, where Jazz Chisholm flipped the ball to Jose Caballero who relayed to first to complete the Yanks' fourth double play of the game. The Yankees had the game and the series sweep. Yankees win, 3-1. Player of the Game: Gotta go with the bullpen collectively - 4.2 scoreless innings! Notable Performances: Warren allowed only one run in four and a third innings...after his disastrous 2025 in Pinstripes, Jake Bird has started 2026 with two scoreless outings...Austin Wells won an two ABS appeals in the seventh, including Tim Hill's pitch that struck out Jung Hoo Lee to end the inning. Better to Forget: The six through nine spots in the lineup were hitless in fifteen plate appearances, striking out seven times. They Said It: "He's been a guy throughout his minor league career that you give him a challenge he's been able to kinda conquer it and he keeps getting better over there (first base) and I need him to keep doing it." - Aaron Boone on Ben Rice My Take: I'm so glad to start my ninth season writing about Yankee games at SSTN! There's nothing quite like the beginning of a new baseball season. Winning those games make the early season even better! Now, winning games in March doesn't exactly make a season, but as we found out when the Yankees tied for the best record in the AL East last year yet had to partake in the Wild Card round, every game counts. Some random thoughts as the season starts... Giancarlo Stanton had his best season in years in 2025, albeit in once again limited playing time. I root hard for "Big G" and would just love for him to enjoy a career renaissance and rip about 30 homers or so this season and make 500 a realistic goal. So far, so good, for 2026. Another player I root for is Jasson Dominguez. I also support the Yankees picking up Randall Grichuk and sending Dominguez to AAA for everyday playing time. Grichuk had a poor 2025, but mashed against lefthanders from 2022-2024 and he's pretty much a risk free trial. I don't think he will have too long a leash, and will be let go early if he doesn't hit. As for Dominguez, I suspect we'll see him in New York plenty unless the current outfielders stay healthy and play really well, which would be a good problem to have. Cam Schlittler looked very good in his 2026 debut, this coming off his solid 2025 season and spectacular playoff start against Boston. Schlittler, Warren, and Ryan Weathers, along with Carlos Lagrange and Elmer Rodriguez on the farm give the Yankees as much solid young starting pitching as I can ever recall the team having. We know on Friday Aaron Judge flipped a ball to a strike through an ABS challenge and smacked a home run on the subsequent 3-2 count. A recent article in The Athletic reported that Judge was victimized by more erroneously called strikes than any player in the game since 2017 - and second place wasn't even close. With this system in place, could Judge now be an even better hitter? I'm excited to see how he performs with "justice" on his side. If I'm Aaron Boone, I'm telling players that ABS appeals for hitters is pretty close to exclusive for Judge, as we don't want the team to lose opportunities like in Opening Day, in which Jose Caballero appealed and lost. This has the look of a real interesting season. Go Yankees!

Next Up: A off day on a Sunday feels a bit odd, but that's what's on the schedule! The Yanks next take the field Monday at 9:40 pm in Seattle. Ryan Weathers takes the mound for his Yankee debut.