In what was meant to be an intriguing pitching matchup between a star free-agent newcomer and a returning old friend, the Yankees’ lineup emphatically overshadowed Max Fried’s debut start with a historic power performance in an absurd 20-9 win. The game began with an unprecedented event when Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, and Aaron Judge hit back-to-back-to-back homers on former fan favorite Nestor Cortes’ first three pitches of the ballgame. Judge would leave the yard twice more for his second career three-homer game, and the Yankees tallied a team-record nine dingers in a fireworks show which defied comprehension.
Making an emotional return to the Bronx after four seasons in the Yankee rotation, Nestor didn’t get an instant to settle in. His first pitch to Paul Goldschmidt was a middle-up fastball, and Goldschmidt slugged it over the visiting bullpen wall in left center for his first Yankee homer and a 1-0 lead.
Cortes attempted to gather himself, and threw an upstairs fastball to the next former MVP to face him, Cody Bellinger. The lefty was more than ready, tomahawking it into the bleachers in right center field for his first Yankee homer.
Next, of course, came Judge. Cortes, scared off his fastball, tried to start Judge with a cutter inside. But he didn’t get it far in enough, and Judge got every last bit of it, sending a majestic blast 468 feet down the line in left. Three pitches in, the Yankees had a 3-0 lead over their old friend.
The nightmare didn’t end there for Cortes, who allowed a fourth homer—an opposite-field big fly by Austin Wells—before his first inning as a Brewer was done. The training staff even came out to check in on him, but he remained in the game. Cortes mercifully retired Trent Grisham, the ninth-place hitter, to end the frame.
Now for the history: This was the first time ever that the Yankees hit back-to-back-to-back home runs to lead off a game. It was the 10th time in MLB history that a team had opened their register with three consecutive round-trippers, and the first time in known memory that the feat had been done on three consecutive pitches. It was also the first time in franchise history that the Yankees hit four homers in the first inning. Combining Goldschmidt’s shot and Wells’ Opening Day bomb, the 2025 Yankees joined the 2011 Texas Rangers as the only teams since 1974 to hit leadoff home runs in the first two games of a season. It was only 10 innings into the campaign, but we’re not likely to encounter a more absurd half-inning the rest of the way.
That being said, there’s still plenty of room for regular-absurd half-innings. Take the very next one, in which two former Gold Glovers made fielding errors. The Brewers’ rally began organically enough, with a Vinny Capra RBI single following a base hit and a hit batsman. But when Brice Turang hit a routine double-play ball to second, Anthony Volpe played some hopscotch on the turn and loosed an errant throw, scoring a runner from third. Let down by his defense, Fried proceeded to let himself down a few batters later when he fielded a dribbler from Christian Yelich and threw the ball well wide of first, scoring another run. He finally struck out William Contreras to stem the tide with the scoreboard reading 4-3 New York.
Thankfully, the Yankees picked up their new star pitcher by continuing their onslaught on Cortes. A walk and a single set the table with two outs for Volpe, seeking to redeem his error. Working the count full, he pulled an up-and-in cutter out to left, and it had just enough to squeak out of the yard for his second homer in as many games. That got all three runs back: the Yankees led 7-3.
Nestor’s terrible horrible no-good very-bad day finally ended with a leadoff walk to start the third, but whatever horrible affliction overcame him was contagious for his first reliever, Connor Thomas. Making his MLB debut, Thomas loaded the bases with nobody out before taking a comebacker off the leg from Bellinger and getting no outs; 8-3 Yankees. Up came Judge, who did what else but bring everybody home with a grand slam for his second homer of the game to make it 12-3, Yankees.
Next batter: Jazz Chisholm Jr. Result: Middle-middle 1-2 fastball punished deep to right center field for the seventh Yankee homer before the Brewers’ seventh out; 13-3 Yankees. You get the picture.
Milwaukee scratched across another run against Fried in the fourth, but the merciless Yankee offense afforded them no quarter in the home half. Bellinger got that run right back with a sac fly, then Judge squared up Thomas again with a two-run blast to center. Judge’s third homer of the afternoon and the Yankees’ franchise record-tying eighth made it 16-4, New York. The game wasn’t even halfway home. The clout matched Judge’s career-high in homers for a single game, which he did twice in 2023.
If not for this absurd, seemingly-neverending power display, today’s result could have been far uglier. The Yankees played a grotesque defensive game behind Fried this afternoon. In addition to the two errors in the second, there was third baseman Pablo Reyes’ fielding error in the fourth followed by back-to-back flubs from Reyes and Chisholm in the fifth. Fried allowed an RBI double to Yelich to make it 16-6 and fell one out short from a winning decision.* Only two Milwaukee runs were earned. The only real way to understand it is to consider this game a piece of street theatre. Lean into the absurdity, but don’t take away too many concrete lessons from it. At least beyond “kick fewer ground balls next time.”
*The W was ultimately credited to the man who followed Fried, Yoendrys Gómez. It was at least still a milestone, as the 25-year-old rookie registered his first career win.
The rest of the game largely boiled down to Aaron Judge Four-Homer Game watch. J.D. Martinez was the last man to perform the feat, with four long balls against the Dodgers while he was a Diamondback in 2017. Judge nearly joined the 18-member club immediately in the sixth with a wall-scraper to right, but it fell 5-10 feet short. Nonetheless, it was an RBI double which plated the Yanks’ second run of the sixth, and Judge notched a new career-high with eight ribbies.
It wasn’t entirely his show, though. Most of the Yankees who started this crazy game on the bench got to come out and play, and one of them joined the power party. Former top prospect Oswald Peraza might have narrowly made the Opening Day roster, but on this afternoon, he cranked a two-run shot to left in his first at-bat of the year to make it 20-6 and set a new team record for home runs in a game: nine round-trippers.
Judge got his final chance at a four-homer afternoon in the eighth inning. Naturally, he faced first baseman and former Yankee Jake Bauers. He went first-pitch hunting and didn’t quite time up the 55-mph lollipop from Bauers, flying out to left field. All the same, Judge finished with the three homers and eight runs batted in, which should be plenty of consolation.
The Yankees relied on Gómez, Brent Headrick, and Carlos Carrasco to get the final 13 outs after Fried’s departure. Carrasco allowed the last three Milwaukee runs on a Bauers RBI double and a Brice Turang two-run home run—just eight more of those and they’d tie their opponents’ output—in the ninth. The Yankees finally completed the paperwork with a groundout to shortstop to improve to 2-0 on the season with a 20-9 final.
So! The Bombers and the Brew Crew have one more matchup waiting on Sunday after all that. There probably won’t be quite so many homers or fielding errors, but you never know. Marcus Stroman gets the start for the Yankees against Aaron Civale with first pitch landing at 1:35 PM on YES.
