SAN FRANCISCO — Aaron Judge going 0-for-5 with four strikeouts should have been a problem. It wasn’t even close to one.
In a 7-0 rout of the Giants at Oracle Park on Wednesday night, the Yankees got all the offense they needed from the most unlikely part of their lineup. The bottom of the order, a persistent weak spot for much of 2025, turned in the kind of performance that could change the way the rest of the league views this roster.
Judge’s rough night was historic for the wrong reasons. The Yankees slugger went hitless on Opening Day for the first time in his career and struck out four times in a game for the first time since September 2024. He had gone hitless in five at-bats just once during his entire second consecutive MVP season last year.
But in the Yankees dugout, nobody was sweating it. Not with what the six through nine hitters did to Giants ace Logan Webb.
Caballero, McMahon and Wells spark five-run rally
The game changed in the top of the second inning. Webb had retired the first four batters he faced and looked sharp. Then the bottom of the Yankees order went to work.
Jose Caballero, starting at shortstop with Anthony Volpe still recovering from offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, stepped up with two runners on and one out. He roped a double to left field that scored Giancarlo Stanton and gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead.
Ryan McMahon came up next and delivered a two-strike, two-run single up the middle. McMahon had been a mess at the plate for most of his time with the Yankees after arriving in a trade from Colorado at last year’s deadline. He posted a .641 OPS with the Bombers in 2025 after carrying a .717 mark with the Rockies, where half his games came at hitter-friendly Coors Field. He retooled his swing this offseason and struggled again through most of spring training, but manager Aaron Boone said before the game that McMahon had been swinging better toward the end of camp.
Austin Wells kept the rally alive from the nine hole with a single to left-center. Wells, who hit leadoff on Opening Day a year ago against Milwaukee and homered in each of the team’s first two games, did not seem bothered by the lineup change.
“As long as I’m in the lineup, I don’t care,” Wells said.
Trent Grisham then capped the frame with a two-run triple to right-center, and the Yankees led 5-0 before the third inning even started. New York brought nine men to the plate in that second inning alone.
Fried credits lineup depth after dominant outing
Max Fried, who turned in 6 1/3 shutout innings on just 86 pitches, was quick to point to the lineup’s balance after the win.
“We have the best player in the world,” Fried said of Judge. “But we also have a lot of guys to support him.”
Fried survived a shaky first inning in which he walked leadoff man Luis Arraez on four pitches and allowed a bloop single to Rafael Devers. But he escaped by striking out Willy Adames and getting Jung Hoo Lee to ground out, and from there he was nearly untouchable. The left-hander retired 18 of the final 20 batters he faced, holding the Giants to two hits over his outing.
Wells focused on building momentum
Wells finished with two hits and a walk. Asked about his night, he kept it simple.
“It was a good start,” Wells said. “I’d like to build off of it.”
The lefty-swinging Yankees catcher said his priorities were the win, solid at-bats and a clean game behind the plate with Fried. He checked all three boxes. When asked if Wells might stay at the bottom of the Yankees order going forward, Boone left the door open.
“We’ll see,” Boone said.
McMahon’s glove buys time for the bat
The Yankees know McMahon’s defense at third base is elite. His numbers with the bat after the trade, though, would have ranked him as the third-worst offensive third baseman in the majors over a full season. If the rest of the Yankees lineup performs as expected, New York can live with that. But the front office still believes there is more in the tank.
Wednesday’s two-run single was a step in the right direction for the Yankees third baseman. McMahon looked more comfortable at the plate, and Boone’s pregame comments about improved swing quality during the final week of spring training appear to have been more than just optimism.
Boone plans lineup adjustments for Friday
The Yankees and Giants resume the series Friday with left-hander Robbie Ray on the mound for San Francisco. Boone indicated it is unlikely some of his left-handed hitters will be in the starting lineup against Ray. The Yankees added right-handed balance this offseason for exactly these situations, leaving Paul Goldschmidt, Randal Grichuk and Amed Rosario available for a righty-heavy lineup.
On Wednesday, Jazz Chisholm Jr., McMahon and Wells were all clustered in the bottom four of the order. Boone typically tries to space out his lefties, and the Friday matchup against Ray could shuffle the lineup considerably.
But the message from Opening Day was clear: this Yankees lineup has weapons beyond Judge and the middle of the order. If the bottom of the Yankees batting order can produce anything close to what it showed in this opener, the Bombers may be even more dangerous than they were a year ago when the Yankees led the majors in runs scored.
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