Yankees’ four-homer first inning carries them in destruction of Orioles

As it turned out, the Yankees’ back-to-back-to-back home runs to lead off the game were just the tip of the iceberg.

The S.S. Oriole, captained by Kyle Gibson, stood no chance of surviving.

The Yankees clobbered the Orioles for five runs on four homers in the first inning and then kept piling on, going bombs away in a 15-3 obliteration of their AL East rivals on Tuesday night at Camden Yards.

Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge and Ben Rice led off the night with back-to-back-to-back jacks in a span of five pitches against Gibson, the veteran right-hander who was making his season debut, before Cody Bellinger went deep two batters later.

“It takes a little weight off everybody’s shoulder once Grish goes out there and does that,” said Judge who ended the night batting .412 with a 1.235 OPS. “You can kind of fade off after the first inning when you score five, [thinking] the game’s set. But this team kept the pedal to the metal.”

Rice added a second home run in the second inning on a night when the Yankees racked up a season-high 19 hits — six of them leaving the park — and conjured up recent memories from their 20-9 win over the Brewers back on March 29. They led off that bottom of the first with three straight homers from Paul Goldschmidt, Bellinger and Judge on three pitches off Nestor Cortes.

“It just shows we got a lot of depth in the lineup,” Rice said. “I know Judgey was part of the first one, but it was [two] different guys this time. We got a lot of different guys that can do it.”

The bludgeoning of the Brewers was the first time in franchise history the Yankees led off a game with three straight homers or belted four home runs in the first inning. Just 31 days later, they accomplished both feats again.

Aaron Judge celebrates with Ben Rice after belting a solo homer, as part of the back-to-back-to-back homers in the first inning of the Yankees’ 15-3 blowout win over the Orioles on April 29, 2025.

“It’s hard to wrap your head around that,” manager Aaron Boone said.

Carlos Rodón was not to be overshadowed, though, as the left-hander retired the first 15 batters he faced before allowing a walk and a double to lead off the sixth inning. He ended up pitching six strong innings in which he gave up two runs while striking out seven, his third straight quality start while lowering his ERA to 3.43.

The Yankees ambushed Gibson for nine runs on 11 hits and two walks before he was mercifully pulled with two outs in the fourth inning. They smoked seven balls off the bat at 100 mph or harder against the 37-year-old that the Orioles signed in March because they did not do enough to address their rotation in the offseason.

Trent Grisham belts a solo homer in the first inning of the Yankees’ blowout win over the Orioles.

The only question by the end of the night was whether the Jets will be able to outscore the Yankees when they play across the street here against the Ravens this fall.

The offensive outburst began before Rodón even took the mound, as Grisham led off with a 412-foot blast to Eutaw Street, briefly tying him with Judge for the team lead with eight home runs before the captain crushed his ninth less than a minute later.

“I can’t let him have that,” Judge said with a grin. “It was fun. I’m happy he gave us the lead and we were tied for a second, but I had to take that back.”

Ben Rice watches his solo homer leave the yard in the second inning, the second of his two long balls, in the Yankees’ blowout win over the Orioles.

Rice, batting third for the second time this season, then drilled his first long ball of the night, clearing the same tall right-field wall that Grisham and Judge did.

After Gibson temporarily plugged the gushing leak by getting Goldschmidt (2-for-5, two RBIs) to ground out, Bellinger (2-for-4, two walks) opened it back up by ripping another homer to make it 4-0.

The only buzzkill on the night for the Yankees was Jazz Chisholm Jr. leaving the game in the top of the first inning after roping a double with an oblique injury that will require testing back in New York on Thursday.

But Anthony Volpe followed with the first of his two doubles on the night to score pinch-runner Oswald Peraza and finish off the scoring, at least in the first inning.

Carlos Rodon, who allowed two runs in six inning, picked up his fourth win of the season.

The Yankees knocked Gibson out of the game with a two-out rally in the fourth inning, capped off by a two-run single from Peraza.

After Goldschmidt added another RBI single in the fifth off Matt Bowman, Bellinger followed with a two-run double that made it 12-0 in a get-right game for the outfielder who had been scuffling.

Austin Wells was in danger of being the only member of the starting lineup without a hit, but he changed that in the ninth by going the other way for his fifth home run of the year.

“What a performance,” Boone said. “Just a great job by everyone putting together a big night.”