New York Yankees 9-4 Pittsburgh Pirates
Aaron Judge celebrated his 1,000th career MLB game in style, launching a milestone home run and helping the Yankees cruise to a 9-4 win over the Pirates in Friday’s series opener at PNC Park.
The Yankees captain didn’t just show up—he made history. Judge crushed a center-cut sinker from former teammate Tim Mayza in the seventh inning for a two-run blast, his sixth home run of the season, extending New York’s lead and putting an emphatic stamp on his milestone game. The shot gave him 17 RBIs through seven games, a new MLB record, and matched Babe Ruth’s franchise mark of 321 home runs through a player’s first 1,000 games.
Aaron Judge also made his presence felt in the field, shaking off a collision with the right-field fence while making a catch in the first inning.
Bottom of the lineup delivers
The Yankees didn’t rely on long balls early. Instead, their eight- and nine-hole hitters—Jasson Dominguez and Oswaldo Cabrera—powered the offense with six combined RBIs. Cabrera finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs, while Domínguez added two hits, a double, and a hit-by-pitch in his multi-RBI performance.
Anthony Volpe and Trent Grisham also sparked the bottom half of the lineup. Volpe went 3-for-4 with a double, while Grisham reached base three times and scored twice.
Max Fried delivered a strong performance in his second outing in pinstripes. The left-hander allowed just one run on six hits across 5.2 innings, striking out six and walking one. He lowered his ERA to 2.61 while benefitting from tighter defense and timely run support.
The Yankees chased Pirates starter Mitch Keller in the fourth, after piling on run after run. New York put at least two men on base in each of the first four innings, ultimately pounding out 13 hits, six walks, and drawing three hit-by-pitches.
Fernando Cruz struggled in relief, surrendering a three-run homer to Ke’Bryan Hayes in the seventh. But Brent Headrick and Devin Williams shut things down over the final 2.2 innings. Williams returned from paternity leave to close out the game with a scoreless ninth.
Yankees roster
| HITTER | H-AB | R | HR | RBI | AVG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B. Rice | DH | 1-4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .350 |
| A. Judge | RF | 1-5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .379 |
| J. Chisholm Jr. | 2B | 0-5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .241 |
| P. Goldschmidt | 1B | 2-5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .280 |
| A. Wells | C | 0-4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .190 |
| A. Volpe | SS | 3-4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .286 |
| T. Grisham | CF | 1-3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .462 |
| J. Dominguez | LF | 2-4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .292 |
| O. Cabrera | 3B | 3-4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .316 |
| PITCHER | IP | H | ER | BB | K | PC-ST | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M. Fried (W, 1-0) | 5.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 98-62 | 2.61 |
| F. Cruz | 0.2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 15-10 | 7.36 |
| B. Headrick | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 27-19 | 0.00 |
| D. Williams | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18-9 | 4.50 |
Up next
The Yankees will send Marcus Stroman to the mound on Saturday as they look to secure a series win. First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. EDT, with coverage on YES Network.
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