NEW YORK – Cody Bellinger’s early returns with the Yankees have been a bit “disjointed,” as manager Aaron Boone put it on Saturday, with the new arrival’s first road trip having been interrupted by a sore lower back and a funky order of room-service chicken wings.
That may all be in the rear-view mirror now. Hours after Boone expressed confidence that Bellinger would soon “bang and get it rolling,” the outfielder delivered, helping lead the Yankees to an 8-4 victory over the Giants at Yankee Stadium.
“It felt good. I was just excited to contribute to the ‘W,’” Bellinger said. “It’s been a little unfortunate, but there’s a lot of baseball left. I’m excited to be part of this team. This team is very, very impressive.”
Owning just seven hits in his first 37 at-bats (.189) and slowed by mishaps stemming from series in Pittsburgh and Detroit, Bellinger stroked a run-scoring triple and a go-ahead single, scoring twice as the Yanks thumped right-hander Jordan Hicks for seven runs in four-plus innings.
Boone said he sensed Bellinger was close to a breakout performance, believing the suboptimal weather conditions of the first few weeks played a part in chilling an offense that opened the season with thunder but was limited to 11 runs (and one homer) in five games entering Saturday.
“I mean, it was 15 degrees last week [in Detroit],” Boone said. “We can bang; these guys can bang.”
Said Ben Rice, who blasted a solo homer later in the contest: “That was big-time. We’re a much better team when [Bellinger is] swinging the bat well.”
Paul Goldschmidt also drove in two runs, including an RBI ground-rule double as part of a five-run fifth – a rally that boosted rookie right-hander Will Warren to his first Major League win.
“It’s a big accomplishment,” said Warren, who had family members at the game, including his wife, Darby. “I’ve been waiting a while to get that one off the table, so it was fun.”
Anthony Volpe lifted a sacrifice fly and Jasson Domínguez added a two-run single that snapped a personal 0-for-15 skid in the fifth. Rice cracked a 113.2 mph solo blast in the sixth, representing the hardest-hit ball of the second-year player’s career thus far.
“That’s how our lineup goes; it’s contagious sometimes,” Rice said. “Those good at-bats, those quality at-bats, they just spread. Guys are looking good right now.”
The Yankees lead the American League with 27 home runs, matching their most through 14 games in franchise history (also 2011 and ’20).
“It was a really good offensive performance,” Boone said. “I felt like up and down, we had a lot of good at-bats. We were able to really lean on the big inning and get it home from there.”
Warren limited San Francisco to two runs over five innings, providing needed length one day after right-hander Marcus Stroman failed to complete the first inning, then landed on the 15-day injured list with left knee inflammation.
“I’m really excited for [Warren],” Boone said. “He just did a good job mixing his pitches, and for the most part dictating counts. He had a lot of useful pitches throughout.”
Wilmer Flores hit a two-run homer in the second inning, which represented the only damage off Warren, who permitted two hits and two walks while striking out six. After Flores’ homer, Warren retired his next 10 batters faced and 11 of his final 12.
“I’ve learned a lot,” Warren said. “There’s a lot of guys in this clubhouse to lean on and learn information from, breaking down each outing every week. It’s the process of knowing what to do, when to do it, and executing it when you go out there.”
Fernando Cruz permitted a two-run single to Flores in the sixth inning, but Luke Weaver, Mark Leiter Jr. and Devin Williams pitched scoreless ball the rest of the way.
Assigned the ninth inning in a non-save situation, Williams recovered after a walk and a double to retire the last three batters, two via strikeout.
“We’re going to look up eventually and he’s going to be rolling and he’s going to be one of the game’s great closers,” Boone said. “We’re going to see that this year. Hopefully this is something that can domino into getting him more and more settled.”
Senior Reporter Bryan Hoch has covered the Yankees for MLB.com since 2007.