(Houston) Jasson Domínguez became the youngest player to hit a homer in his first at bat in a Yankees uniform, Aaron Judge hit the 250 career home run faster than any other player and the club new- Yorkers defeated the Houston Astros 6-2 on Friday night.
DJ LeMahieu hit Justin Verlander’s second shot into the stands to start the game with a home run. After two outs, Verlander conceded a walk to Giancarlo Stanton.
On the second shot his way in the Majors, and on his first swing, Domínguez, who has been compared to Bo Jackson and Mike Trout, slammed a Verlander (10-7) shot over the fence to carry the scores at 3-0.
“I knew I was going to feel a lot of emotions when I finally stepped onto the pitch,” Domínguez said in Spanish through an interpreter. I said my dream was coming true before my eyes, in there I managed to hit that ball which turned out to be a home run. »
At just 20 years and 206 days old, Domínguez became the youngest Yankees player to homer in his first career game. He is the first to hit a long pitch in his first at bat since Judge on August 13, 2016.
“It’s pretty impressive,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. It’s a whole way of making your presence known, and doing so with confidence. »
Austin Wells also made his major league debut for the Yankees on Friday. He hit a single to start the second inning, but Verlander snuffed out the threat this time around.
José Abreu hit a solo homer late in the second inning to close the gap to two runs. However, Stanton responded with a two-run homer in the third inning.
Kyle Tucker closed the gap again to 5-2 with a one-run double late in the third.
Judge slammed a solo homer against Verlander in the fifth, becoming the fastest player to reach 250 homers in Major League history. He accomplished the feat in 810 games, shattering the mark of Ryan Howard, who needed 855 games to reach the plateau in 2010 with the Philadelphia Phillies.
It was Judge’s 30th home run this season despite missing nearly two months of play with a toe injury. He hit 62 last season to break the American League record of 61, set by Roger Maris in 1961.
Verlander gave up six runs and eight hits in six innings. It was the first time this season that he allowed four home runs in a game.
For the Yankees, Carlos Rodon (2-4) allowed two runs and three hits in five innings.
Domínguez is expected to be the team’s regular center fielder, after Harrison Bader was claimed on waivers by the Cincinnati Reds.
He became the youngest player to play a game for the Yankees since 19-year-old José Rijo in July 1984. He was also the youngest in his position since Stan Javier, at age 20, in April 1984.
