Wells secures hold on cleanup spot as Yanks romp in DH opener

NEW YORK – Aaron Judge is usually the man with the thunderous bat for the Yankees. On Saturday afternoon, he had three hits in an 8-0 victory over the Rangers in the first game of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium, but New York’s cleanup hitter, Austin Wells, drove in a career-high four runs.

This was a game in which New York made Nathan Eovaldi work hard on the mound. By the time he left, Eovaldi had thrown 81 pitches (50 strikes) in three innings.

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The Yankees did most of their damage against the right-hander in the third inning. With runners on first and second and New York leading 1-0, Wells worked the count to 2-2 before doubling to right-center field, scoring Juan Soto and Judge to make it a 3-0 game.

An inning later, Eovaldi was out of the game, but the Yankees had their way with left-hander Brock Burke. After Judge hit an RBI double, Wells followed with a two-run single that drove in Alex Verdugo and Judge, making it a 6-0 game.

Wells said he was simply trying to drive in the runs, and he credited his teammates for his success.

“The guys did a really good job getting into scoring position,” Wells said. “I was trying to get something over the plate that I could hit and have some success.”

Since becoming the Yankees’ cleanup hitter on July 20 against the Rays, Wells is 22-for-63 (.349) with eight walks, two homers and 13 RBIs in 15 games. His slash line in that span is .349/.419/.524 (a .943 OPS).

New York was looking for a cleanup hitter after the since-returned Giancarlo Stanton went on the injured list with a left hamstring strain on June 23. Some of the candidates to replace Stanton, like Gleyber Torres and Verdugo, struggled. Wells was the one who stepped up, and he looks like he will be in the 4-hole going forward.

“It’s been really good to see. The hitting side, which we expected, was going to be his calling card,” manager Aaron Boone said. “… It took a minute at this level to get going. He hit into some tough luck early [in the season], but it’s just the quality of at-bat which continues with him regardless of the results.”

When Wells was drafted in the first round in 2020, his bat was expected to get him to the big leagues, with his defense lagging behind. No more: He has improved as a game-caller, and pitchers like left-hander Carlos Rodón, who pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings against Texas, enjoy throwing to him.

“I threw to Austin in one of my rehab outings last year, and I was very impressed with how he is as a man,” Rodón said. “Obviously, he is a great player. You see the bat come around. Defensively, he is outstanding. Since he has been here, you have seen what the Yankees saw from him with the bat. I want him to keep his head down, keep attacking in the box, put pretty good at-bats together and catch the ball.”