


With a young teammate making his MLB debut on the mound, the Yankees put on a power display to relieve some of the pressure.
Not that Jhony Brito needed much help anyways.
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The 25-year-old Brito struck out six over five shutout innings for a strong first impression and the Yankees’ bats took care of the rest, slugging three home runs to win the rubber game against the Giants, 6-0 on Sunday afternoon in The Bronx.
The loudest of the Yankees’ long balls was a 485-foot blast from Giancarlo Stanton, a mammoth two-run shot that landed on the deck above the batter’s eye in center field.
The second-longest home run of Stanton’s career (during the Statcast era, dating back to 2015) put the Yankees up 3-0, two batters after Aaron Judge went deep for the 1-0 lead.
It was more than enough offense for Brito, who looked right at home in his first big league start, filling in for the injured Luis Severino.
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The right-hander struck out six, walked just one and gave up only two hits across five innings.
Brito’s changeup was his best friend on the afternoon, using it to record all six of his strikeouts and 11 of his 16 whiffs.
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After the Giants made him throw 27 pitches in the first inning, Brito settled in and found his groove.
At one point he struck out five straight batters, looking poised and confident on the mound.
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The Yankees gave Brito the lead in the bottom of the third inning, when Judge and Stanton each delivered their second home run of the season against Giants right-hander Ross Stripling.
Kyle Higashioka then whacked his first home run of the season in the fourth inning, a solo shot off Stripling to make it 4-0.
The Yankees added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh inning, which Anthony Volpe led off with a walk.
The rookie shortstop later stole third base – his third steal in as many games – setting him up to score on Anthony Rizzo’s sacrifice fly.
After Brito, the Yankees rolled out Jimmy Cordero, Ron Marinaccio and the recently acquired Colten Brewer to close out the shutout.