Lombard Jr.'s Grand Slam Buries Colorado Before It Starts

George Lombard Jr. hit a 353-foot grand slam in the third inning that swung New York's win probability from 79% to 96%, and the Yankees never looked back. Final score: 6-1, New York.

Luis García Jr. got things moving in the second inning, sending a 413-foot shot to right center to put the Yankees up 1-0. But the game was effectively decided one inning later. With Judge, García Jr., and Jones all on base, Lombard Jr. unloaded a 353-foot homer to right, clearing the bases and pushing the lead to 5-0. That single swing moved New York's win probability from 79% to 96% — a 16-point lurch that turned a competitive game into a formality before Colorado had even recorded an out in the third.

Colorado's Tomoyuki Sugano absorbed the damage, finishing his six innings having allowed all five of those earned runs on four hits and three walks, striking out five. Will Warren, meanwhile, was the story on the other side of the ball. The Yankees' starter went six innings, gave up just one earned run on four hits, walked two, and punched out eight. That's a performance that looks like a pitcher operating with real command and confidence, and Colorado's lineup had no real answer for him.

The Rockies did get one back in the fifth — Connor Norby launched a 408-foot homer to left to make it 5-1 — but that was the extent of Colorado's offense. Bellinger added a 357-foot solo shot to right in the eighth off Juan Mejia to set the final at 6-1, and John Schreiber closed it out with a clean ninth: no hits, no walks, one strikeout. Three Yankees went deep on the night — García Jr., Lombard Jr., and Bellinger — and the story of the night was really Lombard Jr.'s grand slam doing the heavy lifting early. New York's lineup spread the damage across the order, with Judge going 2-for-4 and scoring a run, and the whole thing felt like a team that knew it had this one under control from the third inning on.