Gerrit Cole dominant, Aaron Judge homers in Yankees’ Opening Day win

BRONX — An outstanding effort from Yankees starter Gerrit Cole, a pair of home runs and a little excitement out of Anthony Volpe in his major league debut led to an Opening Day 5-0 win for the Bombers over the San Francisco Giants.

Volpe’s debut had been at the center of the spotlight going into the season opener, but it was Cole’s dominant performance that stole the show. The Yankees ace threw six innings and struck out a franchise record 11 batters on Opening Day, surpassing the previous Opening Day Yankee record set by Tim Leary in 1991.

“I think first and foremost I thought he had good stuff and a really good fastball,” manager Aaron Boone said. “And the way he wa able to move his fastball around all day. Challenge at the top of the zone, especially with their lefties. Having a presence inside. I thought his changeup was an effective pitch for him today, especially against the lefties. I think with it being a little cooler and with the wind blowing, I think he was getting some good movement with that pitch.”

Cole struck out eight of the first 10 batters he faced through the first three innings of the game and showed impressive command on the mound while he was out there. It was the fifth time in his career that Cole started on opening day and carried 3.77 ERA in three previous Opening Day starts.

Cole is just the 13th pitcher in franchise history to win multiple Opening Day starts.

Pitchers in MLB history to have 11+ strikeouts and no earned runs on #OpeningDay:

• Gerrit Cole (‘22) 🔥
• S. Bieber (‘20)
• F. Hernandez (‘07)
• P. Martinez (‘98, ‘00)
• C. Schilling (‘97)
• A. Messersmith (‘70)
• B. Gibson (‘67)
• L. Warneke (‘34)
• W. Johnson (‘17) pic.twitter.com/2wlkvyjFpE

— YankeesMuse (@YankeesMuse) March 30, 2023

“Honestly, after the first batter, I would have told you like I would have been just happy to get through five,” Cole said after the win. “Didn’t quite know how that was going to shake out when you’re fire four straight high to start the game. look, strikeouts or no strikeouts, just needed to keep the team in the ballgame and hold the lead. So it’s a really special moment, but you know it wasn’t my focus and I’m glad I was able to just get the job done regardless.”

The Yankees had entered Thursday’s game with a 4-1 record in their last five Opening Day games and were 67-52-1 all-time.

The excitement around Volpe’s debut in the Bronx had certainly been palpable on Thursday at Yankee Stadium. Ther shortstop has become one of the most anticipated players to make the Yankees roster in recent memory, and he has been drawing plenty of comparisons to Yankees legend Derek Jeter.

In his first major league game, Volpe walked, stole a base and struck out once in two at-bats. The stolen base came after his first MLB at-bat in the fourth inning. Volpe got a quick jump on Giants starter Logan Webb, who struck out DJ LeMahieu, and was able to beat out the throw.

It was a flash of the potential that Volpe had shown all spring.

He was welcomed warmly by the excited sellout crowd on hand for the chilly game. Volpe was given a loud ovation when he was introduced to the crowd during pregame introductions and his first at-bat.

Anthony Volpe introduced on Opening Day 🥹 pic.twitter.com/CIHGJoyGhd

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) March 30, 2023

“It was it was amazing,” Volpe said. “I couldn’t even ever have dreamed that that’s what it was gonna be like. But it was special. To feel and experience and just feel welcomed.”

It was a pair of home runs that helped lift the Yankees to the Opening Day win with Judge hitting a solo blast and Torres knocking a two-run shot into the short porch in right field.

The Judge homer came on the second pitch of his first at-bat of the season and sailed into Monument Park located in center field. It marked the first time in Judge’s career that he had hit a home run in an Opening Day at-bat.

Gleyber Torres’ two-run homer didn’t come until the bottom of the fourth inning after Josh Donaldson had singled to left field. The Yankees designated hitter was able to get a hold of the first pitch sinker and send it into the right field stands.

DJ LeMahieu padded the Bombers’ lead in the bottom of the seventh when he hit a grounder to left field that scored Torres from third to make it a 4-0 game. Judge extended the lead to five after hitting a blooper to center field that allowed LeMahieu to cross the plate.