Yankees hand Bumgarner a career worst

SAN FRANCISCO -- Luke Voit found a section of inviting carpet near the center of the visiting clubhouse of Oracle Park on Friday, allowing the Yankees' ninth win in their last 11 games to wash over him. The slugging first baseman offered this succinct summary of the team's recent run: "Crazy."

Voit said it seems like the Yankees have been welcoming new players into their clubhouse on a daily basis, but it has not seemed to change the end result. Adhering to their "next man up" mantra, the Yankees are getting it done on this West Coast trip, most recently producing a 7-3 victory over the Giants.

"It's fun because no one thinks we should be winning these games," said Voit, who blasted his team-leading eighth homer as part of a three-hit performance. "Before the game, after the game, it's just like, everyone is cheering for each other and happy. Our confidence is through the roof, too. All these guys are coming in and doing their job."

Fielding a lineup that bore little resemblance to any that manager Aaron Boone could have reasonably expected to send out in the 26th game of the season, the "B-Bombers" peppered Giants ace Madison Bumgarner for 11 hits, with each of the top four batters in the lineup notching multiple knocks.

Consider this fact: Of the three players that Boone sent to the outfield on Friday, Mike Tauchman (acquired in a March 23 trade) has logged the most service time in a Yankees uniform -- ahead of neophyte Thairo Estrada and veteran Cameron Maybin, who was purchased from the Indians' Triple-A squad on Wednesday.

Even when Billy Martin famously picked the Yankees' batting order out of a hat in April 1977, he still had the likes of Thurman Munson, Reggie Jackson and Graig Nettles to deploy. Yet Boone's understudies continue to produce, including run-scoring knocks from Gleyber Torres, unlikely cleanup hitter Gio Urshela, Maybin and Estrada.

"No question, it was obviously a different looking lineup for us tonight," Boone said. "Guys up and down the order are just stepping up. Everyone chipped in. That’s how it’s had to be lately. I'm just proud of the guys for having a role in helping us win ballgames."

DJ LeMahieu also enjoyed a three-hit performance, doubling twice, as the 11 hits permitted tied Bumgarner’s career high.

"DJ gets on base every freaking at-bat, it seems like," Voit said. "It's nice to hit with guys on base all the time."

That consistent attack benefited James Paxton, who struck out eight and scattered five hits over 5 2/3 solid innings.

Buster Posey’s first-inning sacrifice fly snapped Paxton’s 14-inning scoreless streak, but the lefty settled in to keep San Francisco off the board until the sixth, when Posey stroked a run-scoring double and Yangervis Solarte picked up an RBI single.

“[Austin] Romine did a great job behind the plate, kind of mixing it up," Paxton said. "I was using my curveball a little bit more because I didn’t have a great cutter tonight. I was moving the fastball around."

Once Paxton turned the game over to the bullpen, Tommy Kahnle got the final out of the sixth and Zack Britton recorded two outs in the seventh before losing the strike zone, walking the bases loaded.

With the potential go-ahead run on base, Adam Ottavino was summoned for a showdown with Posey, who flailed at a 1-1 slider before looking at a called third strike.

"I've faced him a lot of times, so the mindset was to get ahead in the count and try to think through the at-bat with him and get him out," Ottavino said. "He’s such a good player that he’s not a guy you’re excited about facing -- a future Hall of Famer probably. But ultimately with him it’s a chess match and I fare pretty well when it’s that type of situation."

Ottavino hurled a scoreless eighth and Aroldis Chapman worked the ninth, granted a couple of extra runs when Voit belted a Mark Melancon fastball over the center-field fence in the top half of the inning. The 414-foot shot (per Statcast) prompted chatter on the Yanks' bench, Boone said.

"As a right-handed hitter, to hit a line drive at night here where he hit that ball, you've got to sting it pretty good," Boone said. "It's not surprising; we know what kind of hitter Luke is. We know what kind of power he has the other way. He’s one of those guys that it doesn’t surprise you when it goes out."

Having earlier extended his on-base streak to 37 games and a hitting streak to 13 games, Voit is embracing his newfound role as the heart of a lineup that was imagined to revolve around the likes of Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Like the rest of the team, Voit is finding a way.

"Some people are doubting me, [saying] last year was a fluke, but I've always hit," Voit said. "I just have confidence in myself. You're always going to have haters. People are always going to doubt you. I've just got to be myself, go out there, have fun and put a smile on everybody's face."