Stanton hits first homer and Judge goes 2-for-2 in Yankees' blowout win over Mets.
TAMPA — No. 99 was lookin’ fine again.
So was Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge’s new partner in crime.
Predicting Yankees’ 2018 Opening Day roster, lineup 3.0
We’ve been waiting for the Yankees‘ new dynamic-duo sluggers to showcase their superpowers, and they finally were on display Saturday, game 15 of their Grapefruit League schedule.
Judge was 2-for-2 with a double and a walk after going 1-for-10 in his five spring games and Stanton trumped that with his first homer in a Yankees uniform, a two-run homer, opposite-field homer.
This 10-3 Yankees victory also included standout relief performances by their top two late-inning guys, David Robertson and Aroldis Chapman, and an impressive two-hit performance by Brett Gardner.
There was a big scare for the Yankees in the sixth inning when Tyler Wade jammed his left wrist diving to stop an infield single by Mets second baseman Jose Reyes.
Wade, who has emerged as the favorite to open the season as the Yankees’ starter at second, was in a lot of pain initially and immediately was pulled from the game as a precaution.
Wade says he’s fine, though, and hopes to play Monday after resting up on Sunday, a scheduled off day.
“It hurt,” Wade said. “I thought it was pretty severe, then the throbbing kind of went away and I rotated it a little bit and did some flexing. I tried to stay in the game, but I was told to come in and be precautionary.
“I just put some ice on it for 20 minutes and I’m good to go.”
Facing Harvey three times, Judge lined a single to left in the first inning, lined a double to left in the third and walked on four pitches in the fifth.
Following his last time up, Stanton homered to right-center on an 0-2 pitch to make it a 7-2 game.
This was the first homer of the spring by either slugger.
Last season, Stanton led the majors with 59 homers playing for Miami, while Judge led the AL with a rookie record 52.
Asked about his first Yankees homer, albeit one coming in a spring training game, Stanton said, “It was just a good adjustment from (striking out on) the second at-bat. That was more important.”
What kind of adjustment?
“Don’t miss the fastball away,” Stanton said.
Stanton is hitting .333 after going 1-for-2, but Judge was struggling before this showing.
Almost halfway through their Grapefruit League schedule, the Yankees have been waiting patiently for Judge to return to his 2017 record-setting rookie form. This was the best Judge has looked in a spring in which he’d been forced to take it slow due to his offseason left shoulder surgery.
NOTABLE
— Finally on the mound after scheduled sim outings and then a case of food poisoning, Robertson turned in a tremendous debut striking out two batters on six pitches after he replaced starter Luis Cessa in the third with the bases loaded and one out.
— Chapman, shaky in his first outing, was dominate in his second with a 1-2-3 third inning that started and ended with a strikeout swinging.
— Gardner laced line-drive hits to center in the first and third innings facing Harvey and finished with a 2-for-3 afternoon to bump his average from .231 to .313.
— Publicity stunt or not, Tim Tebow is still in Mets’ camp and he was 0-for-2 with a walk, weak groundout to short and a strikeout as the starting DH. Playing 130 miles south of where he won the 207 Heisman Trophy QBing the Florida Gators in Gainesville, Tebow received the biggest cheers of the day.
— Yankees shortstop prospect Kyle Holder was 2-for-2 to raise his spring average to .471 with eight hits in 18 at-bats.
LOOKING AHEAD
Sunday: Yankees at Miami Marlins in Jupiter, Fla., 1:05 p.m. LHP Jordan Montgomery (1-0, 1.04) vs. RHP Jacob Turner (0-0, 2.35).
Monday: Minnesota Twins at Yankees in Tampa, 1:05 p.m.
Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.