Yankees Sweep Opening Series For Third Straight Year

By Sal Maiorana

March 30, 2026

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Sal Maiorana shares his thoughts on the Yankees. Here is an edited version of Sal's latest article.

For Sal's complete analysis on the New York Yankees, you can subscribe to Sal Maiorana's free Pinstripe People Newsletter at https://salmaiorana.beehiiv.com/subscribe.

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The Yankees’ pitching was incredible, Aaron Judge hit two big home runs, the ABS challenge system was a hit, and the Yankees swept the Giants to open the season. 

Lets get to it.

The primary takeaway from what happened out in San Francisco is that the Yankees’ pitching was utterly dominant, allowing just one run on 13 hits, only four of those hits coming in the first two games when the Yankees won each by shutout, something they hadn’t done since 1908.

Max Fried and Cam Schlittler were superb in their starts, Will Warren wasn’t great as he got into pitch count difficulty and lasted just 4.1 innings while giving up the lone run of the series, and then the bullpen was lights out, throwing a combined 11 scoreless innings in the series, the third consecutive season the Yankees have swept their opening series.

Granted, the Giants are a middling team that lacks power, but they do have a few notable hitters such as arch nemesis Rafael Devers, Willy Adames and Matt Chapman, all of whom were helpless against the Yankees’ staff, a combined 5-for-32.

“It was incredible - one run in three games,” Aaron Judge said of the pitching, ignoring the fact that while he definitely scuffled at the plate (2-for-13 with seven strikeouts), his two hits were huge homers which helped win the second and third games on days when the offense wasn’t very productive. “Especially an opening series, you never know what’s happening. Guys are pumped up and it’s usually high-scoring games. Our starting rotation came out there and attacked the zone and really just dictated the ballgames.”

And speaking of the strike zone, that’s the other main thing coming out of this fabulous opening series - the Yankees know the zone pretty well. They were masterful in their use of the new ABS challenge system as they challenged six calls in this series and were right to do so five times. It’s clear to me that ABS is going to have a big impact in a very positive way now that it’s finally here and I love it because now we can get some of the egregious ball-strike calls corrected. 

For instance, Saturday in Cincinnati, CB Bucknor - who may be the worst ball-strike ump in MLB now that Angel Hernandez has mercifully retired - had six calls overturned by the Reds and Red Sox. “He has one job to do. It wasn’t his best day,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after the game.

No one is happier about the advent of ABS than Judge, the man with the biggest strike zone in MLB and the victim of the worst umpiring. From 2017 through 2025, Judge and Mookie Betts were tied for the most called strikes against them on pitches that were actually out of the zone. Obviously, Judge wouldn’t have challenged every one, but think about this: How many more pitches will Judge now see, thus giving him a chance to do damage, by winning ABS challenges? Friday, the answer was two, and the result of that was game-changing. 

After Jose Caballero lost the first ABS challenge in MLB history Wednesday, Judge challenged a strike call in the sixth inning Friday and he was correct as it was a ball down low. Instead of the count being 1-1, it was 2-0 and it became 3-0 before Judge took two strikes to bring it full. Had that first strike not been challenged, would Judge have struck out looking on that fifth pitch? Maybe, but because he challenged and won, he got to see two more pitches in the at bat and after fouling off the sixth, he launched Robbie Ray’s seventh pitch over the wall in left for a two-run shot that broke up a scoreless duel.

“It’s weird,” Judge said. “It’s a new part of the game. You’ve just got to get used to it. I’m a hitter. I’ve got to focus on hitting. I’m not going to try to challenge every single one I think is close, but if there’s a big spot where I think I’ve got a chance to flip the count, I’m going to do it. It takes one pitch, just like we saw in that at-bat.”

Then on Saturday, the Yankees challenged three times, won them all, and they were all big. On the first, Trent Grisham was rung up looking in the third inning on a 2-2 pitch but he challenged and sure enough, it was a ball. Rather than striking out he wound up walking and he later came around to score on Ben Rice’s two-out, two-run double that opened the scoring. “That sets up a lot right there,” said Aaron Boone, who earned his 700th career victory as Yankees manager.

Austin Wells won the next two behind the plate as he got two balls overturned to strikes, both of which led to strikeouts for Jake Bird and Tim Hill in the seventh inning. For Hill, he was up 0-2 in the count to pesky Jung Hoo Lee and when Wells challenged and won on the third pitch, it became an inning-ending strikeout.

“I love what I’m seeing from Austin Wells back there, overturning a couple big calls to shift the momentum onto our side,” Judge said.

The Giants nearly benefited from ABS in the bottom of the ninth Saturday when Heliot Ramos challenged after David Bednar struck him out, and with new life he eventually walked. Ramos then moved to second on a single by Adames and the Giants were set up for a rally with no outs, but Bednar wiggled out to end the game and complete the sweep.

“I feel like our team makeup should lend itself to it being a good thing for us, an advantage for us,” Boone said. “That’s not a given. We got to continue to evolve with it, learn from it, and hopefully it is something that is a strength. That’s my expectation.”

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The Yankees now head up to Seattle for a three-game set starting Monday which will give them a very stern early test. There have been a few baseball people who project the Mariners as the best team in the American League. Heading into Sunday, they lost two of the first three games in their series against the Guardians.

The pitching matchups are scheduled to be:

• Monday, 9:40, YES: Ryan Weathers vs. Luis Castillo.

• Tuesday, 9:40, YES: Max Fried vs. Logan Gilbert.

• Wednesday, 4:10, YES: Cam Schlittler vs. George Kirby.