Anthony Rizzo hit a 449-foot homer in his New York Yankees debut, leading his new team to a 3-1 win over the host Miami Marlins on Friday night.
Jameson Taillon (7-4) pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings to get the win. Aroldis Chapman pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 21st save in 25 chances.
Rizzo, acquired in Thursday’s trade with the Chicago Cubs, went 2-for-3 with a base on balls.
Former Texas Rangers star Joey Gallo also made his Yankees debut, going 0-for-4 with a walk. He was used in right field after being acquired on Thursday.
Former Marlins star Giancarlo Stanton, normally a DH, played left field and went 0-for-3. It was his first time playing the outfield since 2019.
Rookie Zach Thompson (2-4) took a hard-luck loss, allowing just the sixth-inning solo homer by Rizzo in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out five, walked four and gave up just three hits.
Marlins second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., who missed nine games due to a bone contusion in his left shoulder, returned and went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
In addition, two Marlins outfielders made their major-league debuts: right fielder Bryan De La Cruz, who went 0-for-4; and left fielder Brian Miller, who went 1-for-3. De La Cruz also made an excellent running, backhand catch on the warning track, robbing Gary Sanchez of extra bases and a possible RBI in the fourth inning.
Miami threatened in the sixth. With two outs and runners on first and second, De La Cruz had a chance at an RBI single before Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres made a stellar sliding catch, flipping the ball to second baseman Rougned Odor for the inning-ending force.
Torres was ejected the next inning as he argued a called-strike three.
New York finally added to Rizzo’s homer by extending their lead to 3-0 in the eighth. After loading the bases with one out, Odor smashed a two-run single to right.
Miami got on the board in the bottom of the eighth, putting runners on the corners with no outs on singles by Chisholm and Jesus Aguilar. Chisholm scored on Brian Anderson’s double-play grounder, which effectively killed Miami’s final rally.
–Field Level Media