Voit adds to Derby reel as Yanks rock Mets in G1

NEW YORK -- Luke Voit has made no secret of his desire to participate in the upcoming Home Run Derby, offering an enthusiastic, “Hell yeah!” when quizzed on the topic. As those discussions take place behind closed doors, the Yankees slugger added an impressive blast to his audition reel on Tuesday afternoon.

Voit crushed a go-ahead three-run homer into the left-field bleachers and Gio Urshela also homered as part of a four-RBI performance, leading Masahiro Tanaka and the Yankees to a 12-5 Subway Series victory over the Mets in the first game of Tuesday’s day-night doubleheader at Yankee Stadium.

• Box score

"It was fun," said Voit, for whom the contest marked his Subway Series debut. "There were a lot of Mets fans here. You could hear the guys in the stands giving us trouble. It was entertaining. I think tonight will be a packed house and it'll be a good game to watch."

The Yankees fell in the nightcap, 10-4, after a rough start from James Paxton, who lasted just 2 2/3 innings.

The early American League leader among first basemen in the All-Star voting, Voit’s 16th homer of the season came off Zack Wheeler as part of a five-run fourth inning, helping the Yankees erase a three-run deficit.

Urshela had tied the game earlier in that frame with his fifth homer, a two-run shot to the visiting bullpen in left field.

"The quality contact he was making in the Minor Leagues had a chance to potentially translate," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "We feel like he's made some adjustments in his offensive game that have allowed him now to start to have that translate in the big leagues."

Taking the mound four days after the birth of his daughter, Tanaka snapped a four-start winless streak by lasting 6 2/3 innings. Jeff McNeil hit a three-run home run in the third inning off the righty, who allowed five runs (four earned) and seven hits.

"It was a pretty busy couple of days," Tanaka said through a translator. "I think my stuff was actually a little bit better compared to the last couple of starts. I felt pretty good out there. It's always good to get a win."

Juan Lagares and Amed Rosario also drove in runs against Tanaka, who walked none and struck out seven.

"I thought he threw the ball well," Boone said. "They didn't make a couple of plays behind him, and that kind of extended some innings there and made the line a little worse. Other than the McNeil home run, I thought he was pretty good today."

Urshela and Brett Gardner also got to Wheeler for run-scoring hits in the fifth inning, as the right-hander surrendered a career-high nine runs (five earned) and 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings.

"Obviously Luke's home run was really big, but a lot of guys up and down the order had really quality at-bats today," Boone said. "In the first game of a doubleheader, all those runs matter."

Gary Sanchez slugged his American League-high-tying 20th homer in the eighth off Tim Peterson. The Yanks' Nos. 7-9 hitters combined to go 8-for-12 with five runs, two doubles, a triple, homer and six RBIs in the victory.

"It's crazy, man," Voit said. "I looked up and was like, 'We've got 15 hits today.' A lot of it came from the bottom of our lineup, so it gave the guys at the top of the lineup a lot of opportunities with runners on and in scoring position. We took advantage of it, so it just shows no matter who is hitting one, two, five or eight, we're going to get the job done."