10 games that defined Yankees' 2018 season
April 3:Didi Gregorius homers twice, drives in eight in Yankees' home opener
Gregorius enjoyed a home opener for the ages, homering twice and driving in a career-high eight runs in the Yankees' 11-4 victory over the Rays. On a raw and rainy afternoon, Gregorius hit a third-inning drive into the field-level seats in right field off Chris Archer, then reached the second deck off Austin Pruitt in the seventh. He added a two-run single in the eighth, marking the most RBIs in a single game by a shortstop in Yankees history.
April 13:Aaron Hicks homers twice, including one inside the park
Hicks had to motor around the bases for his first home run of the season, then was able to take his time when he hit his second a few innings later, helping the Yankees to an 8-6 win over the Tigers in Detroit. Hicks said that it was his first inside-the-park home run at any level, joking that he was "exhausted" after the 360-foot dash.
April 27: Gregorius gets a curtain call in Anaheim
The roars flowed in cascading waves toward the visiting dugout, making Angel Stadium sound like a West Coast version of The Bronx. Aaron Judge pushed Gregorius to the top step, where a curtain call was accepted some 3,000 miles from the Yankees' home. Gregorius delivered the deciding homer in a wild 4-3, 10-inning victory over the Angels, New York's seventh straight win. At the time, Gregorius led with 30 RBIs and paced the American League with 19 extra-base hits.
May 1: Sanchez hits go-ahead homer in ninth off Ken Giles, who punches himself in the face
The Yankees could produce no answers for Justin Verlander, who tied his career high with 14 strikeouts in an eight-inning gem, but they delivered a knockout blow against Giles in the ninth. Gary Sanchez launched a go-ahead, three-run homer, prompting Houston's closer to punch himself in the cheek as the Yankees stunned the Astros, 4-0, at Minute Maid Park.
May 25: Gleyber hits HR in fourth consecutive game (fourth-youngest player to do so)
In a meeting of exciting rookies, Gleyber Torres outshone Shohei Ohtani. The Yankees newcomer became the youngest player in American League history to homer in four consecutive games, belting a seventh-inning blast to carry the Yankees past the Angels, 2-1. Torres had gone deep in five of his past six contests, including a barreled seventh-inning drive off reliever Jim Johnson that carried over the right-field fence for the wunderkind's ninth big league homer.
May 29:Brett Gardner homers twice, including game-tying shot in ninth; Gleyber hits walk-off single in 10th vs. Astros
The Yankees stole one from the defending World Series champions, despite committing a season-high five errors. Gardner homered twice, including a tying blast in the ninth inning, and Judge also went deep before Torres delivered the deciding hit. The Yankees rallied late for a 6-5, 10-inning victory over the Astros, setting off a frenzied celebration at Yankee Stadium.
June 6: Judge hits a go-ahead HR in 13th at Rogers Centre
It took longer than anticipated, but Judge finally gave everyone in the visitors' dugout something to cheer about. Judge broke a scoreless tie in the 13th inning by mashing a floating Joe Biagini curveball for a two-run homer, and Giancarlo Stanton tacked on with the hardest-hit homer in the Majors this season, lifting the Yankees to a 3-0 victory over the Blue Jays.
June 20: Stanton's first walk-off as Yankee
Sanchez completed the comeback from a five-run deficit with a mammoth game-tying blast in the eighth inning, and Stanton celebrated his first signature moment in pinstripes with a walk-off shot in the ninth, enveloped by his teammates at home plate as they celebrated a memorable 7-5 victory over the Mariners.
July 1: Hicks lifts three homers vs. Red Sox
Playing in front of a national audience, Hicks capped an unforgettable evening by joining some select company. The switch-hitter joined Lou Gehrig (1927) and Mark Teixeira (2010) as the only Yankees to enjoy a three-homer game against the Red Sox, going deep from both sides of the plate as New York battered David Price and mashed a season-high six home runs in an 11-1 rout.
August 28:Neil Walker hits a pinch-hit, walk-off HR against White Sox
One night after manager Aaron Boone called his club out on its "sluggish" play, the Yankees overcame a four-run deficit to secure their ninth victory in 11 games. Walker came off the bench to fill the role of walk-off hero, slugging the only pitch he saw from Dylan Covey over the wall in right field, rounding the bases to celebrate a 5-4 victory over the White Sox at Yankee Stadium.