New York Yankees explode for 7 home runs against Blue Jays

The New York Yankees have enjoyed an offensive explosion unlike any other in franchise history the last two games.

DJ LeMahieu set the tone for what kind of night it would be for the New York Yankees on the second pitch Wednesday night.

LeMahieu homered into the short porch in right field in Yankee Stadium on a 1-0 pitch from Toronto Blue Jays starter Tanner Roark to leadoff the game. But they were far from finished on this night.

LeMahieu, Kyle Higashioka, Clint Frazier and Luke Voit all homered in a 13-2 Yankees win over the Blue Jays. LeMahieu hit two. Higashioka, with seven career home runs coming into the game, hit three off three different Blue Jays pitchers — Roark, Jacob Waguespack and Hector Perez.

That gave the Yankees seven home runs for the game. Coming a night after they hit six in a 20-6 blowout of the Blue Jays, this is the first time in the Yankees’ illustrious franchise history they’ve hit at least six home runs in back-to-back games. The Ruth-Gehrig Yankees never did it, nor did Mantle and Maris.

The New York Yankees have been living up to their Bronx Bombers identity

Higashioka, replacing the struggling Gary Sanchez at catcher, had the game of his career. He’s the first Yankees catcher to hit three home runs since Mike Stanley in 1995. No other Yankee in franchise history had hit three from the No. 9 spot in the batting order; Higashioka is not only the first Yankees player to do it, he’s only the sixth overall in Major League history.

Voit’s three-run homer off Waguespack in the sixth inning, which put the Yankees ahead 11-1, extended his league-lead to 19 on the season. Only Babe Ruth (22 in 1928; 20 in 1930) and Mickey Mantle (21 in 1956) hit more for the Yankees through their first 49 games of a season. In a 162-game schedule, Voit would be on pace for 63 home runs.

The power surge almost completely overshadowed the exploits of other members of the Yankees on Wednesday. Gerrit Cole didn’t give up a hit until the sixth inning and surrendered only one run in seven; he’s now given up just two earned runs in 20 innings across three starts in September. Aaron Judge returned to the lineup for the first time since Aug. 26 but didn’t factor into the offensive outburst, going 0-4 with three strikeouts. Giancarlo Stanton did not play.

The Yankees, after a stretch where they lost 15 of 20 games, have now won seven games in a row. They’ve scored 33 runs in the last two games, the most for the franchise since 2007. Judge and Stanton are back in the lineup. So is Gio Urshela. Voit has established himself as one of the most feared sluggers in the league.

With less than two weeks to go before the start of the playoffs, the Bronx Bombers have returned.