MILWAUKEE — While the Yankees’ offense hasn’t really hit the ground running yet, Aaron Boone made changes to the middle of his lineup Saturday in hopes of “giving it some excitement.”
In at least one match, the result was essentially a chef’s kiss.
New No. 4 hitter Alex Verdugo hit a three-run home run in the first inning, and the Yankees defeated the Brewers 15-3 at American Family Field, setting the tone for the rest of the night.
The 15 points were a season high for the Yankees, and all nine players in the starting batting order reached base at least once.
They had a season-high 19 hits, including four home runs, three of which came before the Brewers pitched their final two innings with position players, putting them in the middle of the rearranged batting order. He was the center of all points.
A struggling Gleyber Torres, who fell to batting No. 7 on Saturday, hit a three-run double to the opposite field in the third inning, one of his three hits on the night.
Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo (the latter batting No. 6 for the first time this season) added two-run home runs in the sixth inning to take the lead.
Verdugo, who became the Yankees’ No. 4 batter for the first time, continued to swing his bat passionately, matching Rizzo with three hits, his third of the season.
Then Giancarlo Stanton hit a three-run homer off infielder Owen Miller in the bottom of the ninth inning, capping off an offensive outburst that made it 15-1.
All of that was more than enough points for Carlos Rodon, who had a season-high eight strikeouts (seven from his slider) in six dominant innings. He allowed just two hits, one of which was a solo home run by Reece Hoskins in the first inning.
He started six games this season, pitching 3 2/3 innings and posting a 2.48 ERA.
The Yankees’ first laugh of the season came a day after an 11-inning, 7-6 blowout, in which the Yankees were able to get Judge, Rizzo and Juan Soto on their feet for the final two and a half innings. 17 games will be played in 17 days.
The lineup Boone wrote Saturday featured the same batters as usual, but shook up the middle of the lineup.
Verdugo took the cleanup spot starting as the No. 6 or No. 7 batter.
Rizzo, who lacked consistency, changed from being the No. 4 or No. 5 batter to the No. 6 batter.
Torres then fell to No. 7, his lowest starting appearance since Sept. 3, 2022.
The switch immediately paid off as Verdugo hit his second home run of the night.
Torres then extended the lead to two runs in the third inning.
He had two RBIs through 27 games, but with one out and the bases loaded, he hit a double to right-center field from a full count.
Oswaldo Cabrera got going in the fifth inning, hitting a single to right to score Rizzo and take a 7-1 lead.
Then in the sixth inning, against reliever Thiago Vieira, Judge and Rizzo hit two runs to make it 11-1.
It was Judge’s fifth home run of the season and second of the week, and Rizzo’s fourth of the season and third of the week.
Verdugo spent most of the first month of the season batting at No. 6 or 7, with Rizzo (against right-handed hitters) and Giancarlo Stanton (against left-handed hitters) sharing cleanup duties.
But Verdugo, a left-handed hitter, has been one of the more consistent Yankees hitters of late, hitting .290 with a .912 OPS over his last 21 games before Saturday.
“I feel like [Verdugo] I’ve had really consistent at-bats here the last few weeks,” Boone said before the game. “At least for now, we’re just going to stir it up a little bit in the middle and basically flip him and Liz.”
