Entering the sixth inning of Saturday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the New York Yankees were trailing 3-0. Pittsburgh starter Jameson Taillon looked like he was in control, and the Pirates stood a good chance of earning the win. In fact, FanGraphs had the Pirates' win expectancy at 87.5 percent.
Things changed quickly after that, so much so that the Yankees ended up winning with ease, 11-5 (box score).
The Yankees put together a five-run inning that started with a Jacoby Ellsbury infield single. Aaron Hicks drew a walk and, after Chase Headley advanced the runners with a grounder to first, Starlin Castro delivered a three-run homer to tie the score:
âï¸âï¸âï¸ power. https://t.co/oq6v4UrtGMpic.twitter.com/smL4t3T9cB
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 22, 2017
Aaron Judge -- more on him in a bit -- ended Taillon's day with a two-strike double to deep center field. The Yankees didn't stop their offensive outpouring there, however. Juan Nicasio began his outing by hitting Greg Bird, then yielded hits to Austin Romine (a single to load the bases) and Ronald Torreyes (a double that plated two) before getting out Matt Holliday to finally end the inning.
The Yankees weren't done after that outburst, either. In the eighth inning of a tied game (the Pirates countered with two runs in the bottom of the sixth), the Yankees again pushed across five runs -- all with two outs. The big hits were provided by Chris Carter, who homered for the first time in a Yankees uniform ...
Chris Carter's 1st HR as a Yankee is a pinch-hit, 3-run shot ...
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 22, 2017
Yankees lead 8-5 in the 8th! pic.twitter.com/Ibgd8zj4hW
... and the aforementioned Headley, who plated a run on a double following a wild pitch that brought home another runner. So if you're scoring at home, it was the second five-run inning of the game for the Baby Bombers.
The Yankees would score one more run in the ninth inning, by the way. That one by way of a Judge home run that measured in at 457 feet:
457 feet ... ððð https://t.co/QznoCPf5AUpic.twitter.com/J3NoXL3vlE
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 22, 2017
According to Statcast, that represents the sixth-longest home run of the year. What's more is that it also represents the longest home run Judge has hit this season, as his previous best was 448 feet.
All things considered, an impressive shot for Judge, and an impressive win for the Yankees.
You can catch up on all the action from around MLB on Saturday here.