Aaron Judge homered for the third straight game, Giancarlo Stanton added a two-run insurance shot and the New York Yankees beat the host San Francisco Giants 7-3 on Saturday night.
New York starter Cody Poteet (2-0) combined with four relievers on a five-hitter, helping the Yankees clinch a third consecutive series win on their Western swing. New York can complete a three-game sweep of San Francisco on Sunday.
Judge gave Poteet a lead before he threw his first pitch. The slugger followed Juan Soto’s single in the first inning with his 21st home run of the season, a 464-foot bomb toward the ornamental old-time baseball glove atop the left field bleachers at Oracle Park.
The Yankees doubled the lead against Giants starter Logan Webb (4-5) in the third on a sacrifice fly by Soto and, after Judge was intentionally walked, an RBI single by Alex Verdugo.
The Giants made it a game by scoring the next three runs, two on a home run by Casey Schmitt off Poteet in the third. Brett Wisely’s RBI single in the fifth made it 4-3.
Subbing for an injured Clarke Schmidt, Poteet was pulled after five innings. He allowed three runs (two earned) and three hits with one walk and six strikeouts.
After relievers Ian Hamilton and Caleb Ferguson each pitched a scoreless inning to retain the one-run lead, the Yankees broke the game open in the eighth. Judge’s second hit of the contest, a two-out infield single, kept the inning alive against Giants reliever Ryan Walker.
Verdugo followed with an RBI triple off the center field wall, after which Stanton launched his 14th home run of the year inside the left field foul pole, giving the visitors a 7-3 lead.
Webb went seven innings, giving up four runs and seven hits. Like Poteet, he walked one and struck out six.
Judge’s two hits made him 4-for-7 in the series, his first ever at Oracle Park, with three homers, four runs and six RBIs.
Soto and Stanton also finished with two hits apiece for New York, which won its fourth straight.
Promoted from Triple-A Sacramento on Friday, Schmitt had two of the Giants’ five hits. The homer was his first of the year.
–Field Level Media
