George Lombard Jr. hits first career grand slam as Yankees rout Rockies, 6-1

Gary Phillips, New York Daily News on Sep 9, 2026

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — The Yankees finally hit their first grand slam of the season on Wednesday when George Lombard Jr. crushed the first one of his career.

The rookie shortstop’s bases-loaded long ball in the third inning paved the way for a 6-1, series-securing win over the Rockies. The opposite-field blast also ensured that, with just 17 more regular-season games to go, the Yankees wouldn’t finish the year without a grand slam for the first time since 1990.

At 21 years and 99 days old, Lombard became the second-youngest Yankee to hit a grand slam, per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs. Only Mickey Mantle, who accomplished the feat twice as a 20-year-old in 1952, was younger.

Lombard now has three home runs for his fledgling career after taking Tomoyuki Sugano deep on Wednesday. He hit his first in his major league debut on Aug. 4, and another on Aug. 8.

But Lombard has been a mixed bag at the plate overall. He’s now hitting .240 with a .674 OPS after going 1 for 4 on Wednesday, and he entered the game with a .167 average and a .456 OPS over his last 14 contests.

Lombard wasn’t the only Yankee to homer on Wednesday, as Luis García Jr. started the scoring with a solo shot in the second inning. Cody Bellinger also had a solo homer in the eighth.

Aaron Judge, meanwhile, went 2 for 4 with two singles in his second game back from the injured list. The captain, who went hitless over six innings in his return on Tuesday, was replaced by Jasson Domínguez in the eighth inning after his second knock.

On the mound, Will Warren tossed six innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts. The right-hander also allowed four hits and two walks over 95 pitches.