Yankees break out of slump, help Will Warren earn first MLB win in victory over Giants

Neither the weather nor the quality of play was particularly crisp.

But the Yankees were not about to complain after escaping Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon with a 8-4 win over the Giants.

Instead, there were grins for starter Will Warren, who earned his first major-league win in his ninth start. Warren limited the ninth-highest-scoring offense in baseball to two runs and two hits in five innings, striking out six.

“A big accomplishment,” Warren said. “Been through a lot of tough outings, but I think that’s what makes this one even sweeter.”

So does getting a reasonably effective outing from struggling closer Devin Williams.

With the Yankees leading 8-4 in the top of the ninth, Williams walked Mike Yastrzemski and gave up a double to Willy Adames before striking out Jung Hoo Lee and Matt Chapman and inducing Heliot Ramos to ground out to second to end the game.

“I maintain that we’re going to look up eventually and he’s going to be rolling,” Aaron Boone said of Williams, who was acquired in a trade with Milwaukee in December and had a 12.00 ERA in his first four appearances. “He’s going to be one of the game’s great closers. We’re going to see that this year. Hopefully this is something that can kind of domino into now getting him more and more settled.”

The Yankees, who had scored seven runs and hit one home run in the previous four games after scoring 76 runs and hitting 25 homers in the first nine games, broke out of that team-wide slump. Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt and Jasson Dominguez each had two RBIs, Ben Rice, Aaron Judge and Bellinger each scored two runs and Rice, Judge, Bellinger and Dominguez each had two of the Yankees’ 11 hits.

“We can bang,” Boone said. “These guys can bang. It’s the big leagues. You’re going to score two [runs] one day. You’re going to score zero occasionally. I just felt like it was more good at-bats from a lot of people.”

Judge singled off Jordan Hicks and Bellinger, in a 3-for-30 slump, gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with a triple to leftfield. It was his first extra-base hit since March 29, when he homered against the Brewers’ Nestor Cortes. Bellinger scored on Goldschmidt’s sacrifice fly.

“We did a great job of starting the game hot and adding pressure,” Bellinger said. “That was just overall a good win.”

Former Met Wilmer Flores hit a two-run homer off Warren in the top of the second to tie it at 2-2. Flores’ sixth homer of the year tied him with five other players — including Judge — for the most in the majors. Warren then retired 10 straight before walking Tyler Fitzgerald with two outs in the top of the fifth, but he struck out Yastrzemski to end the inning and his workday.

“Never good to walk somebody with two outs,” Warren said. “So to bear down in that situation and get through five without any more damage, that was big to hold it there.”

Warren, who entered the game with a 6.00 ERA, had given the Yankees five strong innings, and they repaid him with a five-run outburst in the bottom of the fifth.

Four straight Yankees hit line drives, as singles by Rice, Judge and Bellinger made it 3-2 and a ground-rule double to right by Goldschmidt drove in another run.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked to load the bases with none out, knocking out Hicks (four innings, eight hits, seven runs, three walks). Anthony Volpe’s long sacrifice fly off Randy Rodriguez made it 5-2, and after Austin Wells took a called third strike, Dominguez picked him up by slicing a two-out, two-run single to leftfield for a 7-2 lead.

“I think that’s how our lineup goes,” Rice said. “It’s contagious sometimes, those good at-bats, those quality at-bats. They just spread. Guys are looking good right now.”

Flores’ two-out, two-run single off Fernando Cruz in the sixth brought the Giants (10-4) within 7-4, but Luke Weaver struck out Sam Huff to get out of the inning.

Rice led off the bottom of the sixth by ripping his fourth homer of the season, a drive to right off former Yankee Lou Trivino.

Rice is hitting .310 and has an 1.121 OPS. “Just locked in,” Bellinger said. “Locked into his plan. Locked into his approach. Hit his ball extremely hard and it’s very fun to watch. It’s very impressive.”