Aaron Judge hits three of Yankees' franchise-record nine home runs in rout of Brewers

Well, there is a reason they’re not called the Bronx Bunters.

And aren’t terribly likely to have their name changed anytime soon.

“This was exciting,” Cody Bellinger said after the Yankees set a franchise record by hitting nine home runs in Saturday afternoon’s 20-9 rout of the Brewers in front of a sellout crowd of 46,683.

“We like where we’re at. We love the lineup. We love the depth,” Bellinger said. “It’s going to be fun.”

The Yankees are the third team in MLB history to hit at least nine home runs in a game. The Toronto Blue Jays hit a major league-record 10 homers in an 18-3 win over the Orioles on Sept. 14, 1987, and the Cincinnati Reds slugged nine in their 22-3 blowout of the Phillies on Sept. 4, 1999.

“Wow, what a performance,” marveled Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who hit the first of those nine home runs for the Reds. “Obviously a lot of really great at-bats.”

The previous franchise record was eight home runs on June 28, 1939, in a 23-2 shellacking of the Philadelphia Athletics and  July 31, 2007, in a 16-3 trouncing of the White Sox.

Aaron Judge hit three, including a grand slam in a six-run third inning, and drove in eight runs. It was Judge’s third three-homer game and the 40th multi-home run game of his career. He joined Lou Gehrig (four) and Joe DiMaggio and Alex Rodriguez (three each) as the only Yankees to have three three-homer games in his career.

“It’s a special group,” Judge said. “Any time you get mentioned with those guys, with the careers they had, it’s pretty special.”

Anthony Volpe hit a three-run homer, Oswald Peraza had a two-run shot  and Paul Goldschmidt, Bellinger, Austin Wells and  Jazz Chisholm Jr. added solo shots. Peraza's pinch-hit homer in the seventh set the franchise record.

After the first three pitches from former Yankee Nestor Cortes, the Yankees led 3-0 on homers by  Goldschmidt, Bellinger and Judge. Goldschmidt's 413-foot shot was caught by a relief pitcher in the Brewers' bullpen, Bellinger hit a 451-foot drive into the bleachers beyond the Yankees' bullpen and Judge blasted a 468-foot drive to leftfield that left the bat at 115 mph. On Cortes' 16th pitch of the first inning, Wells slammed an opposite-field homer to leftfield.

 It was the first time in the 123-year history of the franchise that the Yankees hit four homers in the opening frame of a game.

“It’s tough to start better than that,” said Goldschmidt, who upstaged Wells' leadoff homer on the third pitch on Opening Day.

Cortes, whom the Yankees traded to the Brewers in the offseason,  allowed five home runs and was charged with eight earned runs, six hits and five walks in two innings-plus.

His replacement, rookie Connor Thomas, did not fare any better, surrendering eight runs, six hits and a walk in two innings. He allowed  Judge's grand slam, Chisholm's 442-foot homer and Judge's 425-foot two-run shot, which gave the Yankees a 16-4 lead.

“He’s the best in the game,” Bellinger said. “Just truly special. I was happy to watch.”

Judge had two more chances to join  Gehrig as the only Yankees to hit four home runs in a game. He hit an RBI double off the bottom of the rightfield wall in the sixth — giving him nine RBIs in an eight-inning span over two games — and, facing former Yankees outfielder Jake Bauers in the eighth, went after the first pitch and lined a 55.3-mph lob at 108.9 mph to leftfield for a loud out.

“I’m just trying to put it in play,” Judge said. “I’m not thinking about any history.”

Max Fried got more than enough offensive support but not enough defensive support, as the Yankees committed five errors behind him (including one by Fried himself). Four of the six runs off him were unearned, and he fell an out short of qualifying for a win, leaving the game after 4 2/3 innings when his pitch count reached 94. 

“I thought he was all right,” Boone said. “Overall he threw the ball fine. It’s just we’re giving away too many outs.”