The Yankees lived up to their Bronx Bombers nickname on Tuesday night, and made some baseball history in the process.
New York wasted no time blasting off against the rival Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field, as Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Giancarlo Stanton went back-to-back-to-back in the first inning to build an immediate 3-0 lead en route to a 13-3 romp, tagging Shane Baz and company for a fourth straight victory.
The Yanks became the first team in baseball history to hit three consecutive home runs in the first inning three different times in a single season. They did it back in March when they tagged former teammate Nestor Cortes on the first three batters of the game, and again one month later against the Orioles.
All told, the Yankees finished Tuesday night with nine home runs, tying a franchise record, which they matched back on that March 29 game against Milwaukee when they began the day with three straight bombs.
By hitting three consecutive homers again, the Yankees became just the third team in league history to hit back-to-back-to-back blasts three times in a single season, joining the 1982 Brewers and last year’s Dodgers, according to Stathead’s Katie Sharp.
Stanton, Bellinger, and Jose Caballero all homered twice, while Judge, Jazz Chisholm, and Ben Rice accounted for the rest of the Yankees’ historic home run party.