PADRES AVOID SWEEP BY THE YANKEES

The Yankees shut out the Padres in the first game of the series. Carlos Rodon pitched 6 shutout innings giving up only 3 hits. Yu Darvish, on the other hand, did not have such a good night. Juan Soto making his first return to San Diego since being traded to the Yankees struck out swinging at his first at bat, which was followed with a mix of boos and cheers from the crowd. However, Soto’s next at bat he hit a 423 ft. two run home run, which was also followed with a mix of boos and cheers. Prior to that Anthony Volpe scored on a sacrifice fly by Aaron Judge in the first inning. Yankees were up 3-0. Going back to the third inning, after Soto’s home run, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton both hit home runs over 400 ft. as well. Darvish just shook his head in disbelief after each one. The Yankees were now winning 6-0. In the fourth inning, Gleyber Torres who began the season struggling at bat, but has recently been hitting better, also hit a home run over 400 ft. Soto almost hit another home run in the 7th inning but Fernando Tatis grabbed it at the top of the wall. The Yankees scored one more run in the 9th inning off former Yankee Johny Brito’s wild pitch. The Yankees won 8-0.

The Yankees kicked off game 2 with a 429 ft. 2-run home run by Aaron Judge in the first inning off pitcher Dylan Cease. Marcus Stroman had another great outing, pitching 6 shutout innings with 5 strikeouts and only gave up 3 hits. Cease gave up 2 more runs in the fourth inning: Judge scored on a RBI single by Anthony Rizzo and Alex Verdugo scored on a sacrifice fly by Gleyber Torres.  Fernando Tatis hit a solo home run in the eighth inning but it wasn’t enough to rally the Padres ahead. The Yankees won 4-1. Stroman got the win and Clay Holmes earned his 15th save. Aaron Judge is now tied with Kyle Tucker and Gunnar Henderson with 17 home runs; the major league lead.

The Yankees lost game 3 with a score of 5-2 despite a good outing by Clarke Schmidt. Schmidt pitched 5 innings, struck out 6 and held the Padres to 3 hits and 1 run. Jake Cronenworth reached first base in the bottom of the sixth inning on a fielding error by Gleyber Torres and then Manny Machado walked, which resulted in Victoria Gonzalez coming in from the bull pen. Jackson Merrill grounded into a fielders choice which allowed Cronenworth to score. Merrill then scored on a bunt single by Ha-Seong Kim and Gonzalez was replaced by Dennis Santana. Kim then scored on an infield single by Fernando Tatis putting the Padres up 4-1. Caleb Ferguson came in to pitch the seventh inning and gave up another run. Cronenworth scored on a double by Manny Machado. The Yankees attempted a comeback in the 9th inning when Alex Verdugo hit a solo home run but it wasn’t enough.

Next up is a three game series against the Angels in Los Angeles.