NEW YORK ¨C Cody Bellinger¡¯s early returns with the Yankees have been a bit ¡°disjointed,¡± as manager Aaron Boone put it on Saturday, with the new arrival¡¯s first road trip having been interrupted by a sore lower back and a funky order of room-service chicken wings.
That may all be in the rear-view mirror now. Hours after Boone expressed confidence that Bellinger would soon ¡°bang and get it rolling,¡± the outfielder delivered, helping lead the Yankees to an 8-4 victory over the Giants at Yankee Stadium.
¡°It felt good. I was just excited to contribute to the ¡®W,¡¯¡± Bellinger said. ¡°It¡¯s been a little unfortunate, but there¡¯s a lot of baseball left. I¡¯m excited to be part of this team. This team is very, very impressive.¡±
Owning just seven hits in his first 37 at-bats (.189) and slowed by mishaps stemming from series in Pittsburgh and Detroit, Bellinger stroked a run-scoring triple and a go-ahead single, scoring twice as the Yanks thumped right-hander Jordan Hicks for seven runs in four-plus innings.
Boone said he sensed Bellinger was close to a breakout performance, believing the suboptimal weather conditions of the first few weeks played a part in chilling an offense that opened the season with thunder but was limited to 11 runs (and one homer) in five games entering Saturday.
¡°I mean, it was 15 degrees last week [in Detroit],¡± Boone said. ¡°We can bang; these guys can bang.¡±
Said Ben Rice, who blasted a solo homer later in the contest: ¡°That was big-time. We¡¯re a much better team when [Bellinger is] swinging the bat well.¡±
Paul Goldschmidt also drove in two runs, including an RBI ground-rule double as part of a five-run fifth ¨C a rally that boosted rookie right-hander Will Warren to his first Major League win.
¡°It¡¯s a big accomplishment,¡± said Warren, who had family members at the game, including his wife, Darby. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting a while to get that one off the table, so it was fun.¡±
Anthony Volpe lifted a sacrifice fly and Jasson Dom¨ªnguez added a two-run single that snapped a personal 0-for-15 skid in the fifth. Rice cracked a 113.2 mph solo blast in the sixth, representing the hardest-hit ball of the second-year player¡¯s career thus far.
¡°That¡¯s how our lineup goes; it¡¯s contagious sometimes,¡± Rice said. ¡°Those good at-bats, those quality at-bats, they just spread. Guys are looking good right now.¡±
The Yankees lead the American League with 27 home runs, matching their most through 14 games in franchise history (also 2011 and ¡¯20).
¡°It was a really good offensive performance,¡± Boone said. ¡°I felt like up and down, we had a lot of good at-bats. We were able to really lean on the big inning and get it home from there.¡±
Warren limited San Francisco to two runs over five innings, providing needed length one day after right-hander Marcus Stroman failed to complete the first inning, then landed on the 15-day injured list with left knee inflammation.
¡°I¡¯m really excited for [Warren],¡± Boone said. ¡°He just did a good job mixing his pitches, and for the most part dictating counts. He had a lot of useful pitches throughout.¡±
Wilmer Flores hit a two-run homer in the second inning, which represented the only damage off Warren, who permitted two hits and two walks while striking out six. After Flores¡¯ homer, Warren retired his next 10 batters faced and 11 of his final 12.
¡°I¡¯ve learned a lot,¡± Warren said. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of guys in this clubhouse to lean on and learn information from, breaking down each outing every week. It¡¯s the process of knowing what to do, when to do it, and executing it when you go out there.¡±
Fernando Cruz permitted a two-run single to Flores in the sixth inning, but Luke Weaver, Mark Leiter Jr. and Devin Williams pitched scoreless ball the rest of the way.
Assigned the ninth inning in a non-save situation, Williams recovered after a walk and a double to retire the last three batters, two via strikeout.
¡°We¡¯re going to look up eventually and he¡¯s going to be rolling and he¡¯s going to be one of the game¡¯s great closers,¡± Boone said. ¡°We¡¯re going to see that this year. Hopefully this is something that can domino into getting him more and more settled.¡±