Aaron Judge broke out of an early season slump with a two-run homer as the New York Yankees defeated San Francisco 3-0 on Friday. The Yankees have now recorded shutouts in their first two games for the first time in franchise history.
Starting pitcher Cam Schlittler dominated on the mound while Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton provided the offensive power, leading the New York Yankees to a 3-0 shutout victory over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night.
Schlittler earned his first win of the season after a stellar performance, surrendering just one hit across 5 1/3 innings while striking out eight batters without issuing a single walk. The only hit he allowed came from Heliot Ramos, who doubled with two outs in the second inning. After that, Schlittler dominated, retiring the next 11 Giants batters in order. The Yankees’ bullpen finished the job, with Tim Hill recording two strikeouts in the seventh, former Giants closer Camilo Doval striking out three straight in the eighth, and David Bednar closing out the ninth for his first save of the season.
This victory marked a historic achievement for New York, as they became the first Yankees team in franchise history to record shutouts in their opening two games of a season. The Bronx Bombers had previously crushed San Francisco 7-0 in Wednesday’s season opener.
Judge finally broke through for his first hit of the year with a crucial two-run blast in the sixth inning. The three-time American League MVP had struggled mightily to start the season, going hitless in his first seven at-bats while striking out five times before connecting on the home run.
The rally began when Paul Goldschmidt led off the sixth with a double. Judge then worked the count full against Giants starter Robbie Ray after successfully appealing a called strike. He capitalized on the extended at-bat by launching a 3-2 fastball just inside the left field foul pole for his first long ball of the season. Ray took the loss, giving up two runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings of work.
In other Friday action around Major League Baseball, Toronto walked off against Oakland 3-2 on an Andres Gimenez single in the ninth. Gimenez also contributed a two-run triple in the fifth, while Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman set an Opening Day franchise record with 11 strikeouts in six innings, allowing just one run on one hit.
Atlanta’s new manager Walt Weiss celebrated his managerial debut with a 6-0 victory over Kansas City, powered by home runs from Ozzie Albies, Drake Baldwin and Michael Harris II. Chris Sale earned the win with six scoreless innings, moving into 30th place on baseball’s all-time strikeout list by passing Hall of Famers Bob Feller and Warren Spahn.
The Los Angeles Angels continued their strong start with a 6-2 victory over Houston, marking their best two-game start since 2007. Mike Trout homered for the second straight game while Josh Lowe and Zach Neto also went deep for the Angels.
Finally, Miami defeated Colorado 2-1 in both teams’ season opener, with Sandy Alcantara tossing seven strong innings and Javier Sanoja going 3-for-3 with an RBI. New Marlins closer Pete Fairbanks, their biggest free agent signing, earned his first save with a scoreless ninth inning.