PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton returned the New York Yankees lineup after missing 28 games and Jazz Chisholm Jr. made his first professional start at third base, giving manager Aaron Boone a hopeful boost for Monday night's series opener against Philadelphia.
Judge hit his major league-leading 38th homer the first inning, and Chisholm and rookie Ben Rice added solo shots in the second off Zack Wheeler.
“You see that light and you feel like you can dream what we’re capable of,” Boone said before the game. “I feel like it’s a very confident group, even through some of the dark days that we’ve been through. I feel like this is a team that has a chance to do something special. That’s still there for us.”
Judge homered on a sweeper, and with 14 first-inning home runs matched Mickey Mantle in 1961 for the Yankees’ second-most behind Babe Ruth’s 16 in 1927.
A day after making his Yankees debut in Boston, Chisholm hit an opposite-field homer to left, sparking “Let’s go Yankees!” chants throughout another packed house at Citizens Bank Park.
An All-Star second baseman in 2022, the 26-year-old Chisholm was acquired Saturday from Miami. Wearing uniform No. 13, he went 1 for 5 with a single and scored a late run Sunday in the Yankees’ 8-2 victory.
Chisholm took over at third from DJ LeMahieu, hitting .176 with a .490 OPS.
“I feel like he has all the skills and ability to be able to handle it,” Boone said. “There may be some growing pains that we’ve got to go through there. We’ve got to live with that.”
Boone said Chisholm wasn’t necessarily the everyday third baseman.
Stanton played for the first time since straining his left hamstring while running the bases on June 22. New York went 10-18 while Stanton was on the injured list for the eighth time in six years.
The 34-year-old played in 69 of the Yankees’ first 79 games — none in the field — and entered Monday hitting .246 with 18 homers and 45 RBIs. New York went 10-18 while Stanton was sidelined. He had missed 266 of 708 games in the prior five seasons (38%).
Stanton took early batting practice and hit fifth against the Phillies.
Boone said Stanton “knows his body” and wouldn’t rush back from injury he put “the volume, the strain that he wanted to put on himself over and over to know he’s back.
Stanton’s routine of late: “Hit, hit, hit, run, run, sit,” Boone said. “Do it again.”
More help could be headed to the Bronx with various trades rumored.
“I look forward to getting through these next 24 hours, like, here we go boys, this is what we’ve got, let’s go get them,” Boone said.
A major league-best 49-21 through June 12, the Yankees slogged through a 5-15 stretch, and had lost four straight before winning the last two games in Boston. They entered a three-game series in Philly at 62-45, just 1½ games behind AL East-leading Baltimore.
“I feel we’re a much better roster today than we were a day ago, two days ago,” Boone said. “Getting Giancarlo back, bringing in a dynamic player like Jazz makes for a better roster and definitely more upside. We’re not a complete product yet. We’ll work hard to make sure we do the best we can with it.”
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