TAMPA — After a 1-hour and 56-minute rain delay saw countless lightning bolts electrify the sky above George M. Steinbrenner Field on Tuesday, the Yankees brought the thunder.
Those who remained at the Bombers’ spring training complex — rented out by the Rays this regular season — were treated to a home run derby in the first, as Tampa Bay starter Shane Baz surrendered back-to-back-to-back jacks to Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton. The barrage set the tone for a 13-3 Yankees win that saw the team crush nine total homers, tying a franchise record.
It also made the Yankees one of just three teams to hit three consecutive homers three times in one season, as they joined the 2024 Dodgers and 1982 Brewers, per Stathead’s Katie Sharp.
Yankees go back-to-back-to-back on HRs 😳
Aaron Judge ➡️ Cody Bellinger ➡️ Giancarlo Stanton (via @MLB, @YESNetwork) pic.twitter.com/QeWyyiY1tA
— ESPN (@espn) August 20, 2025
The Yankees started their slugfest in style against the Rays, as Judge’s big fly traveled 429 feet to the batter’s eye at Steinbrenner Field. The dinger marked his 40th of the season.
Judge has now reached that total four times over his 10-year career, putting him in esteemed company. Babe Ruth (11 seasons), Lou Gehrig (5) and Mickey Mantle (4) are the only other Yankees to hit at least 40 homers in at least four seasons.
With Judge starting the party, Bellinger and Stanton quickly proceeded with their own home runs. Altogether, the Yankees’ three MVPs saw just nine pitches from Baz in the first.
Tuesday marked the third time the Yankees have hit three straight home runs in the first inning of a game this season. Paul Goldschmidt, Bellinger and Judge achieved the feat against the Brewers on March 29, while Trent Grisham, Judge and Ben Rice did so against the Orioles on April 29. Both of those innings actually featured a fourth home run.
While a fourth first-inning homer didn’t happen on Tuesday, the Rays didn’t stop serving ‘em up after the opening frame. José Caballero was the next Yankee to launch, as he picked up a two-run homer in the second inning. Acquired from Tampa Bay prior to the trade deadline, Caballero’s first home run as a Yankee came minutes after a tribute video played on Steinbrenner Field’s jumbotron.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. added another bases-empty blast in the third inning before Stanton belted his second home run of the night, a two-run bop, in the fourth. The scorching-hot veteran now has 14 home runs in his last 33 games.
Rice immediately followed Stanton with the Yankees’ seventh round trip of the game. Bellinger, meanwhile, became the second Yankee to record a two-homer game when he took Ian Seymour deep for two runs in the sixth.
Caballero, who had just two homers this season prior to Tuesday’s game, then tied the Yankees’ single-game home run record when he lofted his second home run of the night, another solo shot, off Mason Montgomery in the ninth. The Yankees had set that record during the aforementioned March 29 blowout over Milwaukee.
Unable to match their landlords’ power surge, the Rays only mustered two runs off Carlos Rodón. Both came in the second inning, as Tampa Bay scored on a Nick Fortes single and a groundout off the bat of the speedy Chandler Simpson.
Rodón also tallied five hits, two walks, five strikeouts and 102 pitches over six innings after the rain delay interrupted his pregame warmups. His evening was also impeded by a soggy mound prior to the fifth inning, as he slipped during a warmup pitch before the GMS grounds crew tended to the bump.
The Rays scored another run in the eighth inning on a Jake Mangum single.
With a delayed-but-easy win on Tuesday, the second-place Yankees are now 68-57 on the season and 15-19 against American League East rivals. More importantly, they now have a one-game lead over the Red Sox and Mariners for the American League’s top Wild Card spot.
Boston visits the Bronx on Thursday to begin a four-game series, but the Yankees will look for a two-game sweep over the Rays on Wednesday before heading home.
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