Pitching, Defense, HR’s & SB’s. NY 8 Miami 2

April 4, 2026 paperbacklou 2026 0
Aaron Judge hits 2-run HR in bottom of 1st to put NY up 2-1.

Pitching, defense, homeruns, “small ball”, and stolen bases — the Yanks have it all and applied it all to the Miami Marlins for an 8-2 win on a Friday afternoon — opening day — at Yankee Stadium. An overcast day in the 60’s that turned sunny at the end.

It started with the vaunted Yankee starting pitching — on this day Will Warren got the start — and he pitched well — into the 6th inning, allowing 2 solo HR’s but nothing much else and leaving with a 4-2 lead.

The vaunted Yankee bullpen took it from there — Tim Hill, Jake Bird (looking SHARP), Brent Headrick, and Ryan Yarbrough with 3.1 shutout innings.

The offense — against Miami’s 6’8 Ace Eury Perez — was provided by:

  • Aaron Judge with a 2-run HR in the bottom of the 1st to give NY a 2-1 lead;
  • 2 more Yankee runs in the 3rd on “small ball” — Yank runners stealing bases on Ace starter Eury Perez, causing him to walk batters;
  • Another “small ball” run in the 6th off reliever Tyler Phillips,
  • A Ben Rice HR in the 7th to make it 6-2 NY; and
  • Another serving of Rice in the 8th — a 2-run double off the wall in right.

And the defense — a spectacular catch by Cody Bellinger in left field in the 8th where a line drive bounced off his wrist but he caught the ball with a glove swipe while he ran at full sprint.

“Good piece on the breaking ball after a really good 1st AB by Grish to set it up,” said manager Aaron Boone afterwards about Judge’s HR. “Really good answer to them putting a run on the board in the 1st. Grabbed the lead right back and allowed and I think it allowed Will to get in a good rhythm too.”

“Really good,” added Boone about Warren. “Swing and miss again with the heater. I think it’s playing; I thought  he did a good job with his 4 seam and his sinker. They got a couple good ones obviously with the 2 solo shots, but for the most part he was in command, and settled into a really nice rhythm. Even the 6th — a couple of seeing-eyes there that chased him. But overall threw the ball really well.”

“If he gets a good pitch to hit,” said Boone about Rice, “obviously he’s going to Sting it.”

In a matchup that featured two 5-1 teams coming in, NY improves to 6-1; Miami falls to 5-2.

1. Judge HR Puts Yanks Up 2-1 in 1st

The Yanks were up against Miami’s young 6’8 Ace Eury Perez, who shut the Yanks out for 6 innings of 2-hit ball the last time they saw him last August.

Will Warren allowed a solo HR to Xavier Edwards in the top of the 1st, so NY was down 1-0 when Trent Grisham worked a walk to lead off the bottom of the 1st, and Aaron Judge smoked a 2-run Bomb to left off the vaunted Perez — and just like that it was 2-1 NY.

2. Yankee Speed Effects Perez in 2nd for “Small Ball” Runs

Eury Perez got the next 3 batters to end the 1st, but in the bottom of the 2nd, Jazz Chisholm Jr. worked a leadoff walk, then stole 2nd.

Austin Wells struck out — but Chisholm stole 3rd.

Jose Caballero worked a walk — and proceeded to steal 2nd to put runners on 2nd and 3rd.

The Yankee baserunning pressure seemed to throw off Eury Perez, as he walked Ryan McMahon to load the bases.

Perez went 0-2 on Trent Grisham — but Grisham hung in and worked a walk to score a run and make it 3-1 NY.

Eury Perez then Hit Aaron Judge with a pitch to force in another run and make it 4-2 NY — with Judge showing rare annoyance at the pitch that seemed aimed right at him.

3. Warren Terrific

Meanwhile, after allowing the solo HR to Xavier Edwards in the top of the 1st, Will Warren cruised — retiring 12 in a row, including a 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.

Warren allowed another solo HR — to Owen Caissie with 1 out in the 5th for a 4-2 game — but got the next 2 batters, and then retired the first 2 batters of the 6th — before allowing consecutive singles and being relieved by Tim Hill.

Hill got the final out of the 6th — a groundout — maintaining NY’s 4-2 lead.

4. Yanks Work a “Small Ball” Run in 6th

Eury Perez left after 4 innings, relieved by Tyler Phillips who pitched a shutout 5th. But the Yanks got to him with small ball in the bottom of the 6th.

Austin Wells worked a leadoff walk, and Jose Caballero‘s speed caused a throwing error by 3rd baseman Pauley — Caballero beating out a slow grounder for Yank runners on 1st and 3rd.

Ryan McMahon flied out but Caballero stole 2nd base to put the pressure on — NY runners on 2nd and 3rd. Phillips struck out Trent Grisham — but Aaron Judge worked a walk to load the bases with 2 outs.

Phillips then threw a wild pitch with Cody Bellinger up — scoring Austin Wells for a 5-2 NY lead.

5. Rice HR in 7th Makes It 6-2 NY

Ben Rice had struck out all 3 times up — twice against Perez and once against Phillips — when he led off the 7th with a “Lightning Quick Bat” HR to right off Michael Peterson for a 6-2 NY lead.

6. Another Serving of Rice in 8th

The Yanks pressured the Marlins pen some more in the bottom of the 8th — Trent Grisham working a 1-out walk against Lake Bachar, Aaron Judge singling to left, Cody Bellinger walking, and Ben Rice ripping another “Lightning Quick Bat” shot to right for a 2-RBI double.

7. Yankee Pen Terrific

The Yankee pen shut the door as usual. After Tim Hill got the last out of the 6th, Jake Bird came in and pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 7th, striking out 2 with Wicked curveballs.

Brent Headrick pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 8th — also striking out 2.

8. Bellinger’s AMAZING CATCH in 9th

And then came the Yankee defense. Ryan Yarbrough came in for the 9th — and allowed a line shot to left by Xavier Edwards that Cody Bellinger tracked down and made a spectacular catch on — accidentally knocking the ball off his arm but catching it with a swipe of his glove!

Another look:

Yarbrough then hit former Yank prospect and star DH Agustin Ramirez (payback for Judge being hit?), but picked him off 2nd, and retired Liam Hicks on a fly for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401814786

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*