NEW YORK -- Jazz Chisholm Jr. raised his bat high and angled his body as though attempting to steer his seventh-inning drive, savoring the ensuing celebration as his second home run of the game capped a historic weekend.
With some assistance from their new “Torpedo” lumber, Chisholm and his teammates are blasting the ball at a record-breaking pace. The Bombers cracked another four home runs on Sunday, powering a 12-3 victory over the Brewers that completed a sweep of the three-game series at Yankee Stadium.
“I love my bat, you know what I mean?” said Chisholm, who hit a two-run home run in the third inning and a three-run shot in the seventh. “I think you can tell; it’s working pretty well for me.”
Aaron Judge continued to rake, launching a first-inning blast off right-hander Aaron Civale. Judge is the franchise’s first player to hit four homers in the club’s first three games; only Adrian González (five, in 2015 with the Dodgers) has belted more in any team’s first three games.
Fatigued of facing Judge, one day after the reigning American League Most Valuable Player notched his third career three-homer game, the Brewers issued walks in Judge’s subsequent three plate appearances. Twice, Chisholm made them pay with drives into the seats.
“Seeing people pitch around him just to face me, it gets me a little hyped up,” said Chisholm, who has six career multihomer games, three since being acquired by the Yankees last July.
Ben Rice also homered for the Yankees, his first of the year. With two homers on Opening Day and a franchise-record nine in Saturday’s 20-9 rout, the Yankees’ 15 home runs tied the 2006 Tigers for the most in a club’s first three games of a season.
“It’s just a lot of good at-bats, guys staying aggressive in their zones,” Judge said. “Besides the home runs, I’ve been seeing a lot of good at-bats. Getting guys over, some good sac flies, some good situational hitting. It’s a lot of stuff that helps you win ballgames.”
Said Yankees manager Aaron Boone: “Most of the guys are in a pretty good place with their swings. They’ve done a really good job of executing the game plan and taking tough at-bats. You’re not always going to have days like this, obviously, but I like the approach and the frame of mind every day.”
Marcus Stroman worked 4 2/3 innings of three-run ball before handing the game off to the bullpen; four relievers combined to hold the Brewers to one hit the rest of the way. But Sunday’s story, as it was over the entire series, centered upon a Yankees offense that has already scored 36 runs.
It’s the third time in Major League history that a club has scored at least that many runs in its first three games, joining the 1954 Cubs (41) and 1978 Brewers (40).
“I think we’re all in awe, watching the balls fly out of the stadium at the rate they currently are,” Stroman said. “You see the potential of this group of guys. It’s incredible, one through nine; even the guys on the bench. When we’re hot and we’re clicking, it shows you how truly special we can be.”
Of the Yanks’ four blasts Sunday, only Chisholm’s were hit with a “Torpedo” bat, a unique model that resembles a bowling pin and shifts the barrel a few inches closer to the hitter’s hands from its traditional spot.
Chisholm said he was intrigued when he saw teammates Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells using them during Spring Training. Borrowing Volpe’s bat, Chisholm said, he belted a double in his first trip to the plate, then homered in his next game.
After that, Chisholm said he was sold on the innovation, which Major League Baseball confirmed Sunday is legal for use.
“You probably don’t have more [barrel] to work with, but it feels like it,” Chisholm said. “It gives you that extra confidence in your head to be able to go out there and hit anything.”
Performances like Sunday’s have also made Chisholm a believer in the Yankees’ potential for the season ahead.
“We fire torpedoes all around, you feel me?” Chisholm said. “We hit the ball around the park, we play defense, we’ve got speed. We do it all over. Here, it’s about scoring runs and winning games. Our goal, obviously it’s not a realistic goal, but it’s to win 162 [games]. You go out there to win every game, so that’s our mindset.”