CLEVELAND — Aaron Boone isn’t sure why things never worked out for Franchy Cordero at his previous stops in San Diego, Kansas City, Boston and, this past spring, Baltimore.
“I don’t know,” the Yankees manager said when asked Monday. “Game’s hard. It’s different for everyone. Some guys, it clicks early, and they have a Hall of Fame career. Some people, it takes a while longer.”
One thing Boone has maintained, however, is that the corner outfielder can hit the heck out of the ball.
“He’s got big time pop,” the manager said. “He’s got easy pop. The ball jumps off his bat.”
Cordero showed that power again Tuesday when he launched his third home run in his sixth game with the Yankees after signing with the team just in time for opening day. The three-run, third inning bomb off overmatched Cleveland starter Hunter Gaddis provided an exclamation mark in the Yankees’ 11-2 series-tying win over the Guardians at Progressive Field.
With a 1.110 OPS and 10 RBIs in the blink of an eye, Cordero is clearly clicking now.
While the lefty masher enjoyed the biggest blast of the night, the Bombers had plenty of help offensively. Anthony Rizzo drove in two, while Willie Calhoun, Oswaldo Cabrera and Jose Trevino all added one apiece.
Aaron Judge, meanwhile, improved his on-base streak to 44 consecutive games. He, Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Hicks all had multi-hit games as the Yankees tallied 13 knocks as a team.
Tuesday’s contest ended up being a blowout, but things got off to a briefly shaky start for the Yanks and Gerrit Cole.
The ace allowed two runs in the first inning, thanks in part to Gleyber Torres’ glove and Jose Ramirez’s bat, which smoked a run-scoring double. But Cole rebounded, much like the Guardians’ No. 1 starter, Shane Bieber, did on Monday night. He also surrendered two runs in the opening frame before Cleveland ultimately won a much closer game.
Cole didn’t permit another run over seven total innings of work. He allowed five hits and two walks while striking out three, a season low. But his 2023 ERA now sits at 1.40 after three impressive starts.
Albert Abreu covered the last two innings for the Yankees. The right-hander didn’t allow a run and struck out one.
With the series now even, the Yankees will try to replicate their offensive performance against Cleveland on Wednesday after tagging Gaddis for eight earned runs. The Guardians hadn’t announced their series finale starter as of the final out on Tuesday, but the Yankees are sending Clarke Schmidt to the mound.
Schmidt, one of several rotation fill-ins due to injuries, has begun the season on a sour note, recording a 9.45 ERA over two starts. He’s logged just 6 2/3 innings in two Yankees losses.
