MIAMI — If the Yankees are going to claw their way back into a playoff spot, especially with a thinning rotation, it will have to be on the back of their offense.
Friday night offered a glimpse of what that might look like.
The Yankees broke out their bats in a big way, with every member of the starting lineup recording at least one hit, on the way to a 9-4 win over the Marlins at loanDepot Park.
On a day that began with the news that Nestor Cortes is likely done for the season because of another rotator cuff strain — delivering a hit to their postseason chances — the Yankees (60-56) pulled back within four games of the Blue Jays for the final AL wild-card spot..
Anthony Volpe and Aaron Judge crushed home runs to lead an offensive attack in which the Yankees piled up 14 hits and knocked talented lefty Jesus Luzardo out of the game early.
Seven different Yankees reached base at least twice, including four with multi-hit nights.
“I think it just allows the whole team, from the pitching staff to the offensive side, everybody in the lineup to relax and stick to the plan,” Judge said. “When you struggle as a team offensively, guys try to go up there and do a little more than they need to. Volpe going up there and giving us a good three-run lead allowed everybody else in the lineup to go out and stick to your game plan, take your walk when you need to, drive a guy in when you need to. That set the tone for everything.”
Of course, the Yankees have put together games like this offensively on a few occasions of late, only to fail to turn it into a sustained stretch. They will need Friday — when they were 7-for-13 with runners in scoring position — to serve as a harbinger of things to come if they are to finally make the run they believe they are capable of.
It won’t get any easier on Saturday, when the Marlins (60-57) send reigning NL Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara to the mound.
“Just keep working the way we’ve been working,” Volpe said. “We want to have more at-bats in those kinds of situations [with runners on base] and keep giving our teammates opportunities. I feel like if we keep doing that, then the more reps and experience we get, the better we’ll get at it.”
Randy Vasquez, called up earlier in the day from Triple-A to take the rotation spot of the injured Carlos Rodon, was solid behind opener Ian Hamilton. After Hamilton gave up a pair of runs in the second inning, Vasquez entered for the third and tossed 3 ²/₃ innings while allowing two runs.
Volpe got the Yankees going in the second inning. After back-to-back one-out singles from Giancarlo Stanton and Harrison Bader, Volpe clobbered Luzardo’s 97 mph fastball 404 feet to left field for the 3-0 lead. It marked the rookie shortstop’s 15th home run of the season.
Judge led off the third inning with a mammoth shot, demolishing another 97 mph fastball 464 feet, halfway up the batter’s eye for his 22nd home run that made it 4-2.
There were questions about what Judge’s power would look like when he came back from the IL two weeks ago at less than 100 percent with a big right toe injury. But it looked just fine on Friday when he slugged his longest homer of the season.
“That’s a different type of home run,” Volpe said. “It’s so easy, but it just jumps off the bat.”
The Yankees then padded their lead in the fourth inning, with Jake Bauers, Kyle Higashioka (3-for-4, two RBIs), Oswaldo Cabrera and Isiah Kiner-Falefa hitting four straight singles to end Luzardo’s outing.
Gleyber Torres followed with an RBI single to end the book on Luzardo, whose ERA rose from 3.52 to 3.91 in one night.
“That’s a guy that’s in the middle of a really good season,” manager Aaron Boone said. “That was really good to see, up and down guys hitting the ball hard against him and having real quality at-bats.”
