Yankees RF Aaron Judge (99) - Rick Scuteri/AP Photo
The 2024 New York Yankees began their quest for a 28th World Series title with a big opening series.
In their way were the Houston Astros and the Arizona Diamondbacks. All these games were important, as their opening series began on the road.
Opening Series Kicks off – Thursday, March 28th in Houston
It looked like the Yankees’ opening series would start with concerns. The Astros took advantage of starting pitcher Nestor Cortes. Cortes had a tough job having to replace ace starter Gerrit Cole.
Cole is starting out the season inactive with right elbow inflammation, therefore the ace will be out for the near future.
Nevertheless, Cortes rebounded and didn’t give up another run in the game. The Bronx Bombers scored five unanswered runs to squeak out a 5-4 victory.
Game 2 on Friday was Even More Dramatic
The Yankees entered the seventh inning of Game Two in a familiar spot as Game One. They began the inning down by three runs but answered with three of their own.
Oswaldo Cabrera hit home run #2 in the series to tie the score at 3. However, Juan Soto once again hit toward the opposite field for the game-winning run and a 4-3 Yanks lead.
Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe added an insurance home run to cap off the 5-3 win. They began the road trip 2-0.
Juan Soto’s Impact on the Four-Game Sweep
Soto made a great first impression in his first series with the New York Yankees. The 25-year-old superstar put on a show for manager Aaron Boone and the rest of the team.
The $11 million man had three hits in game four on Sunday afternoon. He capped off the sweep by getting on base 12 times and hitting two home runs. His biggest play, however, may have saved the Yankees from losing in walk-off fashion.
Houston had a huge hit that may have forced a 6-5 win for the Astros and could have taken the sweep from the Bombers away. That all changed nevertheless, when Soto tagged the runner out and was confirmed by replay.
Therefore, the Yankees won a sigh-of-relief game, 5-4, and began the series with a sweep of the Astros.
The Yankees also started 4-0 for the first time since 2003. In addition that year, the Yankees made the World Series. It’s also the second straight 4-0 beginning for Manager Aaron Boone. In 2003, he played on the team for the Yanks during that 4-0 start.
As the cliche goes, “Get the Broom Out New York City!”
Onto the Arizona Diamondbacks – Monday Night, April 1st
The Yankees traveled to the desert in Arizona to take on the reigning World Series runners-up with the Diamondbacks to begin a three-game series. The Bronx Bombers led by shortstop Anthony Volpe defeated Arizona 5-2.
The second-year man delivered four hits which included two doubles. He accomplished all of this despite one day after coming down with a stomach bug that kept him out on Sunday.
Starting pitcher Luis Gill had to wait much longer. He was out for 692 days recovering from Tommy John Surgery, whereas Volpe was out for only one day.
Still, both men were big contributors to the win and helped the club start out 5-0 for the first time since 1992.
Tuesday Night – First Loss
Whereas the bats were hot in the first five games of the season, the bats were cold on Tuesday. The Yankees were looking to start out 6-0 since 1992- the same year they started out 5-0.
Arizona’s starting pitchers were hot and the Yankee’s good hitting fortunes came to an end. Zac Gallen pitched great for the D-Backs and shut down the Yankees bats. The Bombers would get shut out 7-0 for their first loss on the season.
Wednesday Night Bounce Back
As they say, “Baseball is 162 games and there is a law of average between hot and cold streaks”. After the Yanks bats were frozen on Tuesday, they returned to their hot form Wednesday night.
It was the first time this season that the Yankees faced extra innings.
Turning to the 11th inning, with #99 of the Bombers up to bat, Judge smacked the ball 93 mph into the right-center-field gap.
The D-backs tried to make a late rally, but it was too late. The Yankees would hold on to win a thriller, 6-5.
And the 6′ 4″ slugger finally got his first home run of the season.
Alex Verdugo also hit his first homer as a Yankee.
Yankee’s Review
It’s only seven games into the season and at some point, the Yankees will get on a cold streak, as it is in the case of the sport of baseball.
What I’m most impressed with, is the Yankees seem to be talented in all three phases of the game.
Especially with their pitching. They have great starting pitchers. Even without Cole who can go at least 5-7 innings per game, which will always give the Yanks a chance to win.
More importantly, they have a quality bullpen with pitchers that can relieve deep into a game. This gives Cole a chance to get healthy and return when fully recovered and ready to pitch.
We hope to see him sooner, rather than later, but we are glad that he can take the time (but not to much) to come back.
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