SAN FRANCISCO (AP) For a team used to winning championships around some of the biggest names in sports, this isn’t supposed to happen.
But with a major league-leading 13 players on the injured list, the New York Yankees have turned to a bunch of lesser-known names.
So far, so good.
Luke Voit homered and had three hits and three RBIs, DJ LeMahieu also had three hits and scored three runs, and the injury-depleted Yankees beat the San Francisco Giants 7-3 on Friday night.
The Yankees have won seven of their last eight games and nine of 11.
”It’s fun man, because nobody thinks we should be winning these games and everyone in our clubhouse, before the game and after the game, everybody is cheering for each other,” Voit said.
”Confidence is through the roof.”
Voit extended his career-best hitting streak to 13 games. He’s batting .367 (18 for 49) over that stretch with four homers and 10 RBIs. He has reached base safely in a career-best 37 straight games dating to last season.
”He’s such an important player for us, he’s become a premium hitter,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. ”I don’t think any of us are surprised. I think a lot of people were wondering after last year, could he come and do this? But this is the kind of hitter we see him as, as a guy who has the ability to get on base and hit the ball out of the ballpark, and he’s been doing that since he got here.”
Buster Posey had a double and two RBIs for the Giants, who were seeking their first four-game winning streak.
James Paxton (3-2) gave up three runs in 5 2/3 innings of five-hit ball after combining for 14 shutout innings in his previous two starts. He struck out eight and walked none.
The hard-throwing lefty has 32 strikeouts over his last 19 2/3 innings.
The Giants threatened in the bottom of the seventh when Zack Britton issued three straight two-out walks. Yankees manager summoned Adam Ottavino to face Posey, and the right-hander froze Posey on a 2-2 slider for a called third strike.
BUMMED OUT
Giants starter Madison Bumgarner (1-4) gave up five runs on 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings. The 2014 World Series MVP struck out five and walked none.
”I threw a lot of strikes but not a whole lot of quality strikes,” Bumgarner said. ”There were a lot of hittable pitches. I can’t put us in a hole like that and that’s twice in a row.
”The mechanics are the same, it’s just the feel. I’m not putting the ball where it’s supposed to go.”
FINALLY
The Giants ended the second-longest, first-inning scoring drought to start a season in major league history on Posey’s one-out sacrifice fly off Paxton.
San Francisco had not scored in the first inning of its first 25 games. The major league record of 28 games at the start of a season was set by the 1948 Chicago White Sox.
SHORT HOPS
The Yankees are playing in San Francisco for just the second time since the 1962 World Series. The Yankees are 8-5 against San Francisco in 13 games since the inception of interleague play. … The Giants commemorated their seventh annual ”Metallica Night” with the Grammy Award-winning rock band performing the national anthem.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: 3B Miguel Andujar (torn labrum) played five innings in his first intrasquad game at the team’s minor league complex in Tampa, Florida. Andujar went 2 for 3 Friday with a two-run homer and a walk. The 24-year-old will probably DH on Saturday, play another extended spring training game on Monday and then rehab with Single-A Tampa, Boone said. ”If it continues to go well, a chance he could be back with us next weekend when we get home,” Boone said. … SS Troy Tulowitzki, out since April 3 with a strained left calf, hit in a simulated game. . RHP Ben Heller, recovering from Tommy John surgery, is throwing to hitters. … RHP Danny Farquhar remains at extended spring training to build arm strength.
Giants: 1B Tyler Austin was back in the lineup after missing four straight games with right elbow inflammation. … Prospect Heliot Ramos injured his left knee taking a swing on Wednesday with Single-A San Jose. The team’s top pick (19th overall) in the June 2017 amateur draft was placed on the seven-day IL.
UP NEXT
Yankees: LHP J.A. Happ (0-2, 5.96 ER) is 1-4 with a 4.80 ERA in five career starts against the Giants. The 36-year-old journeyman was the opposing pitcher for Matt Cain’s perfect game on June 13, 2012.
Giants: LHP Derek Holland (1-3, 4.33) is 1-7 with a 6.38 ERA in 11 career appearances (10 starts) against the Yankees.
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