Prior to Wednesday’s game against the Oakland Athletics, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman expressed no concern about the team’s struggling offense. However, several key hitters, including Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo, responded with home runs, while Juan Soto added another, leading the Yankees to a 7-3 victory in front of a crowd of 31,179 at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees’ offense took advantage of poor defensive play by the A’s, with Judge drawing a walk after being initially called out on strikes due to a balk. Judge then hit a two-run homer, moving him past Derek Jeter for ninth on the club’s all-time home run list.
In the second inning, Oswaldo Cabrera reached base after a foul ball was misplayed by A’s second baseman Abraham Toro. The Yankees failed to score on a potential double play in the third inning due to a wild throw by A’s first baseman Ryan Noda.
In the fourth inning, Anthony Volpe drove in a run with an RBI triple after A’s right fielder Lawrence Butler misplayed the ball. Soto followed with a sacrifice fly, and his solo homer in the sixth inning gave the Yankees a 4-0 cushion.
Judge, who was hitting .174 with a .645 OPS as recently as Monday, raised his batting average to .191 and his OPS to .702 with a 2-for-5 performance. Rizzo, who had only hit one home run in his first 23 games, now has two in his last two.
Austin Wells, who entered the game with a .086 average, contributed two singles and raised his average to .132. Volpe, who has struggled since moving to the leadoff spot, added two hits for his first multi-hit game since April 14. Gleyber Torres, who was in a 1-for-17 slump, singled in the seventh inning to help drive in a run.
Every Yankees hitter in the starting lineup except for Oswaldo Cabrera reached base. The team’s seven-run, 11-hit performance was more than enough for Clarke Schmidt and the Yankees’ bullpen. Schmidt pitched five scoreless innings before allowing a three-run homer to Brent Rooker in the sixth inning, ending his night.
Luke Weaver and Ian Hamilton combined to pitch 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief to close out the game for the Yankees.
