WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The New York Yankees trailed 3-0 and had not collected a hit when their third inning began on Sunday at Sutter Health Park. Forty-three minutes later, they had scored 13 runs, taken a 10-run lead, and stamped their names across the record books.
The 13-8 win over the Athletics was strange enough on its own. The Yankees did all of their damage in one frame and were otherwise nearly no-hit. But the deeper story sits in the history the inning made. This was not simply a big rally. It was a collection of records, some tied, some broken, and one never achieved before in the long history of the American League.
Here is a breakdown of every milestone the Yankees reached in their unforgettable third inning.
A first in American League history
The headline Yankees record is the rarest of them all. The Yankees became the first team in American League history to score 13 or more runs in a game with every one of those runs coming in a single inning.
The feat had happened only twice before anywhere in the majors, both in the National League. The Atlanta Braves did it on Sept. 20, 1972, and the Philadelphia Phillies matched it on April 13, 2003, in Cincinnati. No AL club had ever pulled it off until the Yankees did on Sunday.
All hits and all runs in one frame
The symmetry of the Yankees day produced another mark. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no team since MLB expanded in 1961 had scored as many as 13 runs while collecting all of its hits in a single inning.
The Yankees recorded 11 hits on the afternoon, and all 11 came in the third. It was the most runs in a game by any team in the expansion era with every hit bunched into one frame. Outside that inning, the Yankees were hitless.
Tied for the second-biggest inning in franchise history
The 13 runs rank among the most the Yankees franchise has ever scored in one inning. The Yankees have now reached 13 in a frame four times, and only once have they gone higher.
| Runs | Date | Opponent | Inning |
| 14 | July 6, 1920 | at Senators | 5th |
| 13 | April 18, 2005 | vs. Rays | 2nd |
| 13 | June 21, 2005 | vs. Rays | 8th |
| 13 | May 31, 2026 | at Athletics | 3rd |
The franchise record remains the 14-run fifth inning on July 6, 1920, against the Washington Senators, a rally in which Babe Ruth drew an intentional walk and later singled home two runs. The Yankees previously scored 13 in an inning twice in 2005, both against Tampa Bay. Sunday marked their first 13-run inning in 21 years and tied for the second-largest in team history. Even the famed 1927 club of Ruth and Lou Gehrig never scored 13 in a single inning.
Twelve straight batters reach to open the inning
The Yankees sent their first 12 batters to the plate in the third and every one of them reached base safely. The streak tied a franchise record set on Sept. 11, 1949, against Washington, when Phil Rizzuto sparked a rally that featured Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra.
The Yankees mark also tied the expansion-era record for the most consecutive batters reaching to start an inning before the first out. Only two other teams since 1961 had done it: the Boston Red Sox on May 7, 2009, and the Kansas City Royals on Aug. 2, 1986. The all-time record is 14 straight, set by Detroit against the Yankees on June 17, 1925.
Ten runs before the first out
The Yankees scored 10 runs before recording a single out, a total that did not stop until Paul Goldschmidt struck out looking in his second at-bat of the inning. They became the first team to score 10 or more runs in an inning before making an out since the Red Sox on May 7, 2009.
The 10 runs before an out tied for the second most by any team in the expansion era. It was a relentless Yankees assault that wore down three Athletics pitchers one at-bat at a time.
Rice, Volpe and the individual marks
For the Yankees, Ben Rice delivered the loudest individual performance. He produced a two-run double and a two-run triple in the inning, finishing with four RBI and two runs scored. Having two multi-run extra-base hits in a single inning is a rare individual achievement.
Anthony Volpe added his own piece of history. He collected two hits, scored two runs and stole two bases in the inning, becoming just the third player in the last 50 years to record two hits, two runs and two steals in a single frame. Volpe was on deck for a third at-bat when the inning finally ended.
In all, every Yankees batter in the lineup scored at least one run, and all nine reached base. Eight of the nine collected at least one hit and one RBI, with Austin Wells the lone exception after he walked twice and scored twice. Volpe, Rice and Cody Bellinger each had two hits in the frame.
A 43-minute marathon with no home runs
The Yankees inning lasted 43 minutes, featured 18 plate appearances and 75 pitches from three pitchers. The 18 batters were the most the Yankees had sent up in any inning since 1987. The length forced starter Will Warren to jog to the bullpen mid-inning to stay loose, where he threw about seven warmup pitches.
Perhaps the most surprising detail is how the runs scored. The Yankees lead the majors with 86 home runs in 59 games, yet they did not hit one in the third. They produced 13 runs on eight singles, two doubles, one triple, four walks and four stolen bases. It was just the fifth time in the expansion era a team scored 13 or more in an inning without a home run.
The outburst also tied for the highest-scoring inning by any MLB team in more than a calendar year. For perspective on the all-time scale, the record for most runs in an inning belongs to the 1883 Chicago White Stockings, who scored 18 in the seventh inning of a 26-6 win. The Boston Red Sox hold the modern-era mark with 17 in 1953.
How the Yankees got there and held on
The rally followed a blunt message from captain Aaron Judge, who was frustrated after the Yankees were retired in order through two innings against A’s left-hander Jacob Lopez. Judge explained what he told his teammates between innings.
“I just felt like we were a little asleep there during the first two innings,” Judge said. “I expect more out of the guys. I know they expect more out of themselves. A couple of choice words there just to get it going, and the boys responded.”
Warren made the lead hold up, allowing three unearned runs in the first but no earned runs across six innings. The Athletics scored four in the seventh on homers by Brent Rooker and Jonah Heim, and added one in the eighth, before David Bednar closed it out. The Yankees improved to 36-23 and finished a 5-1 road trip. Manager Aaron Boone struggled to put words to the afternoon.
“Today was one of those crazy games that I don’t know what it was, but it was a win,” Boone said.
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