SAN FRANCISCO — The Yankees finally allowed a run Saturday night at Oracle Park. It took the Giants 20 innings to put one on the board. By then, it did not matter.
Aaron Judge homered for the second straight game, the ABS challenge system produced another pivotal sequence and Will Warren gutted through a tough outing as the Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Giants with a 3-1 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 40,634.
The Yankees are 3-0 for a second consecutive year. They are off Sunday before opening a three-game series in Seattle on Monday, where Ryan Weathers will make his Yankees debut against the Mariners’ Luis Castillo.
ABS challenge changes the game for the Yankees again
For the second time in two days, the automated ball-strike system handed the Yankees a crucial break. This time it was center fielder Trent Grisham who benefited.
With one out in the third inning and the game scoreless, home plate umpire Chad Whitson called a high 2-2 pitch a strike against Grisham. The pitch missed the zone by 2.7 inches. Grisham immediately tapped his helmet, the computer overruled the call and the at-bat continued. He eventually walked.
After Judge struck out, Cody Bellinger singled to put runners at first and second. Ben Rice then ripped a Tyler Mahle fastball off the right-field wall at Oracle Park for a two-run double that gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead.
The Yankees went 3-for-3 on ABS challenges Saturday, with catcher Austin Wells going 2-for-2 behind the plate. Through three games, the system has already become a weapon for the club.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone admitted before the game that he was “kind of obsessive” about the subject during spring training.
“I wanted to talk about it a lot,” Boone said.
He added that he found 8-10 examples from his club and other teams that he felt strongly about and walked through each of them with his players at the end of camp.
“That’s my expectation,” Boone said when asked if ABS can be a strength for the Yankees. “We’ve poured a lot into it. I feel like our team makeup should lend itself to this being a good thing for us and an advantage for us.”
Judge homers again as Yankees complete the sweep
The Giants snapped the Yankees’ season-opening scoreless streak at 20 innings in the bottom of the third when Matt Chapman delivered an RBI single. It was the first run allowed by the Yankees pitching staff in 2026.
Judge answered in the fifth. The Yankees captain roped a solo homer to left field, this time without any ABS assistance. The ball struck an ambulance parked behind the left-field wall. It pushed the lead to 3-1 and drew MVP chants from the crowd at Oracle Park, where Judge grew up attending games as a Giants fan in nearby Linden, Calif.
It was Judge’s second consecutive game with a homer and his fifth career home run at Oracle Park. He now has eight RBIs in six career games in San Francisco.
Warren grinds through a rocky Yankees debut
Will Warren came into Saturday’s start off an electric spring in which he posted a 1.42 ERA over 25.1 innings. His 2026 debut did not match that level, but the right-hander found a way to limit the damage.
Warren lasted 4 1/3 innings, allowing one run on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts on 83 pitches. He extended the Yankees’ scoreless streak to 20 innings before Chapman’s single broke through.
It was not the sharpest outing, but Warren kept the Yankees in front. He left with a 2-1 lead and the bullpen took over from there.
Yankees bullpen stays dominant through three games
The relief corps picked up where it has been all series. Brent Headrick, Jake Bird, Tim Hill and David Bednar combined to shut the Giants down over the final 4 2/3 innings.
Bird delivered the most critical work. He entered a first-and-third, nobody-out jam in the sixth inning and struck out Willy Adames before getting Harrison Bader to ground into a double play. It was the kind of high-pressure escape that can define a bullpen’s early-season confidence.
Bednar allowed the first two batters to reach in the ninth but closed it out by striking out Bader and getting Patrick Bailey to hit into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play. The Yankees turned four double plays on the night.
Through three games, the Yankees bullpen has allowed just one run and a handful of hits. After losing Devin Williams and Luke Weaver to the Mets in free agency, the early returns suggest the new group is more than capable.
Yankees head to Seattle riding a perfect start
The 3-0 start is backed by staggering pitching numbers. Yankees starters have combined for 15 innings of one-run ball across three games. The bullpen has been nearly airtight. The offense has delivered timely hits, and the ABS system has given the club an early edge that Boone believes will grow over the course of the season.
Weathers will take the mound Monday in his first start as a Yankee. The left-hander was acquired in a trade with the Nationals during the offseason and will be counted on to hold a rotation spot while Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon work their way back from the Yankees injured list.
The Giants, shut out in two of three games and held to just five runs across the series, will regroup as they search for their first win under new manager Tony Vitello.
How do you see today’s game? Who is the MVP?
