New York Yankees 6, San Francisco Giants 0
NEW YORK — Giancarlo Stanton hit a huge home run, Aaron Judge also went deep, and Jhony Brito won in his first game in the major leagues, which the New York Yankees beat the San Francisco Giants 6-0 on Sunday.
Ross Stripling, who was making his first start for San Francisco, gave up all three home runs. Kyle Higashioka also hit a home run off of him. In the first series of the season, New York won two of the three games.
Over five innings, Brito (1-0) gave up only two hits, one of which was a bunt single. He got six batters to strike out and only one to walk. He used a polished changeup to get rid of batters.
Because of injuries to projected starters Carlos Rodón, Luis Severino, and Frankie Montas, the Dominican Republic native right-hander, who is 25 years old, won a spot in New York’s rotation with a strong spring performance that included pitching 5 1/3 innings without allowing a run against Toronto in his most recent appearance.
Last season, Brito pitched at Double-A and Triple-A and went 11-4 with an ERA of 2.96.
Stripling (0-1) got out of a bases-loaded jam in the first, but Judge followed with his second home run of the season to left field in the third.
Anthony Rizzo then hit a sharp single, and Stanton hit a 485-foot drive to almost straightaway center field that went way over the tinted restaurant windows above Monument Park. Even though the camera was up there, the ball went over it and landed on a sidewalk in front of a bar.
Stanton took a moment to admire the 118 mph drive, and then he put his bat down and ran around the bases. Since Statcast started keeping track in 2015, it was his second-longest home run, behind a 504-foot shot at Coors Field in August 2016. It was also his third-longest at Yankee Stadium, behind two homers by Judge in 2017 that went over 490 feet.
In Saturday’s 7-5 loss, Stanton hit a ball into a double play that ended the game with the bases full.
Higashioka hit a home run to start the fourth inning. In five innings, Stripling gave up four runs and six hits. Last season, the right-handed pitcher won 10 games for Toronto and had an earned run average of 3.01. He then signed a $25 million, two-year deal with the Giants.
In the seventh, New York scored two runs without getting a hit. This was mainly because the 6-foot-11 reliever Sean Hjelle walked three batters and threw three wild pitches. Rizzo’s sacrifice fly brought in rookie Anthony Volpe.
Ron Marinaccio stopped a San Francisco threat in the sixth and got all three batters out in the seventh. Colten Brewer’s first two innings with the Yankees were hitless, so he finished the three-hitter.
When both Judge and Stanton hit home runs in the same game, New York’s record goes to 29-2, including the playoffs.
UP NEXT
Nestor Cortes, a left-handed All-Star pitcher for the Yankees, will make his first start of the season Monday night at home against the NL champion Phillies.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
