The only MLB player with more home runs than Aaron Judge this season was in the opposing lineup Tuesday night, and both remarkable sluggers went deep again in the Yankees’ 10-3 victory.
Switch-hitting catcher Cal Raleigh launched his MLB-best 36th homer in the eighth for the Mariners — two more than Judge, who had smashed his 34th one inning earlier.
“I think it’s what both sides are pretty ho-hum used to seeing, for them to put on the board,” Aaron Boone said after the Yankees’ second consecutive win. “You got two guys in the mid-30s at this point in the season, it’s just a testament to how special a season both of them are experiencing.”
Raleigh’s 36 are the most before the All-Star break of any catcher in baseball history.
“Remarkable, really,” Boone had said of Raleigh before the game. “I mean, when you consider the position and the rarefied — actually, not even rarefied, he’s made his own air now — with the first half, from a power standpoint.
“He’s more consistent from both sides, as well as being a frontline defender behind the plate. So it’s a great player in the middle of a great season.”
Cam Schlittler was in the clubhouse and will make his major league debut as the starting pitcher for the Yankees on Wednesday night.
The 24-year-old righty has gone 6-6 with a 2.82 ERA in 15 games (14 starts) split between Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season.
“Well, first, I’m happy that he could get here today as part of the taxi squad. So to get here, kind of get situated, work out, and do what he does the day before a start,” Boone said. “But he’s earned the opportunity … and certainly did some really good things to put himself on the map last year, and then came into spring training, and I thought did a really good job.
“You really saw the talent, the upside, why we’re excited about him. … He’s been really good since going to Triple A, and hopefully he can carry that up to here.”
Boone said the plan is for Yanks pitcher Luis Gil to begin a minor league rehab assignment Sunday — likely at Somerset — after throwing three innings of live BP earlier Tuesday.
The 2024 AL Rookie of the Year has not pitched yet this season due to a right lat issue.
Former Yankees pitcher Jim Abbott, who enjoyed a 10-year MLB career despite being born without a right hand, tossed the ceremonial first pitch.
Abbott pitched in The Bronx from 1993-94, and made history by throwing a no-hitter against the then-Indians on Sept. 4, 1993.
“Just so great to be back,” Abbott said. “To put this uniform on, I remember being traded here and how odd it felt to put the pinstripes on, I loved being here.”
