Yankees 10-4 Pirates: Grisham’s two homers and bullpen’s shutdown innings seal series win

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New York Yankees 10-4 Pittsburgh Pirates

Trent Grisham powered the Yankees from the No. 9 spot, launching two home runs and driving in four, while Anthony Volpe cleared the bases with a double to help New York beat the Pirates, 10-4, on Saturday afternoon at PNC Park.

The Yankees improved to 6-2 with the win and will look to complete the sweep on Sunday. Grisham’s breakout performance, combined with five shutout innings from the bullpen, more than made up for a shaky fourth inning from Marcus Stroman.

Grisham, Volpe lead the charge

Grisham got the scoring started with a solo shot in the third inning, giving New York a 2-0 lead. He later came through in the fifth, blasting a go-ahead three-run homer after the Yankees had fallen behind.

The outfielder has reached base eight times in his last three games, showing signs of settling in with his new club. “He’s been huge for us in the bottom of the order,” Aaron Boone said postgame.

Anthony Volpe also continued his strong start to the season. With the bases loaded in the fifth, the shortstop drilled a 380-foot double off the left-center field wall, clearing the bases and pushing the Yankees’ lead to 8-4. Volpe added another double in the ninth, finishing 3-for-5 with three RBIs.

Stroman fades after strong start

For three innings, Marcus Stroman looked locked in. But everything unraveled in the fourth. The veteran right-hander issued two leadoff walks, then gave up a double to Ke’Bryan Hayes. Three walks and a pair of extra-base hits later, the Pirates had scored four runs and taken the lead.

Stroman was pulled after just four innings, having allowed four earned runs on three hits and four walks. His ERA jumped to 3.86.

“He was cruising, and then just lost the zone,” Boone said. “Luckily, our offense had his back, and the bullpen was outstanding.”

Bullpen shuts the door

Tim Hill was the first reliever in and worked around a leadoff walk, thanks in part to a slick double play turned by Volpe. Mark Leiter Jr. followed in the sixth and was credited with the win after erasing a leadoff single with a double play of his own.

Fernando Cruz, Ryan Yarbrough, and Luke Weaver combined to shut Pittsburgh down over the final three innings. Cruz struck out two in a clean seventh. Yarbrough struck out the side in the eighth, rebounding from a rough outing earlier in the week, and stayed on to finish the ninth.

Yankees keep tacking on

New York didn’t let up after reclaiming the lead. In the eighth, Oswald Peraza doubled and scored on Paul Goldschmidt’s third hit of the day. The Yankees added one more in the ninth when Austin Wells lifted a sac fly to left, scoring Aaron Judge and pushing the lead into double digits.

Judge had reached on a single, meaning every Yankee starter recorded at least one hit in the win. Wells, who drove in a run earlier in the game with an RBI single, finished with two RBIs.

The Yankees ran into some outs on the bases — Jazz Chisholm Jr. was thrown out at home on a contact play in the seventh, and both Volpe and Wells were caught attempting a double steal — but their bats made up for the missteps.

Yankees roster

What’s next

The Yankees will go for the sweep on Sunday afternoon, weather permitting. Rookie right-hander Will Warren is set to make his second career start. He’ll be opposed by former Yankee Andrew Heaney, with first pitch scheduled for 1:35 p.m. EDT.

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