Yankees Power Display Breaks Records, but Will It Last?
The Yankees came out swinging in Florida last night and proceeded to snap a series of baseball records in an evening to remember. What made it more impressive was that it took place against the Tampa Bay Rays, a team that has always been hard for New York to master. The Bronx Bombers broke no fewer than nine records. The question that was left lingering after this destruction was, could the Yankees sustain this?
Before answering that question, it is only right to look into the numbers of a special night of offensive artistry. The Yankees tied a team record of nine home runs in one game. This was the second time they have accomplished this feat, with the first against the team with the best record in MLB currently, the Milwaukee Brewers, on March 29th. Tampa Bay, unfortunately, gave up nine home runs, a franchise record.
The first inning was a celebration of MVPs. Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Giancarlo Stanton hit back-to-back homers. These three current and past MVPs did something only been accomplished three times since the BBWAA began voting in 1931, and tracking statistics such as being only the third trio of MVPs to match such a feat. It was also the third time this year the Yankees have hit three home runs in a row. When the Yankees are good, they are very good.
Aaron Judge appears to have awakened by hitting his 40th dinger of the season. He joined an exclusive club in Yankee lore by becoming only the fourth player to hit 40+ home runs at least four times, joining Mickey Mantle, who also has four. In addition, he stands with Lou Gehrig, who had five such seasons. The king of this club is Babe Ruth, who has mastered this feat eleven times. Giancarlo Stanton continues to be red hot, hitting two into the seats of George S. Steinbrenner Field while passing Dave Kingman, who was 14th on the all-time home run list with his 443rd and 444th career home runs.
It was a great night for trios in general. Cody Bellinger added a second homer along with Stanton while making his case to be extended long-term. In addition, Jose Caballero, the former Ray, joined in the fun by punishing his former club for two home run shots. One has to go back to 1961 to find the only other occasion where three Yankee teammates hit two home runs in a game. Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Bill Skowron were the only other trio to do this in Yankee history. The youngsters got into the act as well, with Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ben Rice adding moonshots of their own.
One has to give credit where credit is due. Now, the problem whenever the Yankees have had nights like this is they tend to slow down to a crawl the next night or even periods of time thereafter. The Yankees have won five of the previous six games against the Minnesota Twins and St. Louis Cardinals, using speed, situational hitting, and timely power to go along with decent pitching to gain wins in a manner they usually do not display. The Yankees will hit home runs. They have 204 so far to lead all of MLB. The trick is hitting them more consistently over many games as opposed to singular game explosions. This will happen only when they take what the pitchers give and do not look for the long ball as much. If they take more quality swings and let the ball fall where it may, the talent will do the rest. The Yankees may find that they will hit many home runs, but when it counts, and less when it doesn't.
