Yankees’ DJ LeMahieu, Anthony Volpe break brutal home run droughts

In one day, two Yankees got off the schneid in the long-ball department. 

DJ LeMahieu went deep for the first time this season while Anthony Volpe hit his first home run in over two months as the Yankees beat the Rays 9-1 on Monday afternoon in The Bronx. 

LeMahieu’s home run, in his 40th game of the season, came after he spent Sunday on the bench amid a brutal slump.

He came to the plate in the fifth inning 0-for his last-18 and batting just .176 on the season, but got a sweeper down the middle from right-hander Zack Littell and lifted it for a wall-scraper that put the Yankees up 5-1. 

It marked LeMahieu’s first home run since Sept. 5, 2023, ending a 57-game homerless streak — the second-longest of his career. 

Volpe, meanwhile, had hit six home runs in his first 44 games but none over his last 56 since May 16.

That changed in the second inning Monday when he went back-to-back with Austin Wells. 

“I like where he’s trending the last several days after really searching for it a little bit,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We’re seeing a lot of quality at-bats now that he’s stringing together a little bit.” 

Volpe entered the All-Star break hitting just .171 with a .433 OPS over his last 35 games.

But in four games out of the break, he is hitting 6-for-14 with two doubles and a home run. 

That included pulling two hits to left field on Monday, which he has done less of this season while trying to get back to spraying the ball to all fields, which has cost him some power. 

“I like when he pulls it in the seats like that,” Boone said. “Where the ball goes, I don’t give a rip. I just want him to have more quality at-bats, tough at-bats and I feel like he’s starting to feel it again a little bit and hopefully carry this over.” 

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Consistent playing time has been hard to come by for Oswaldo Cabrera, but the utilityman has delivered of late when he has been in the lineup, like he was on Monday.

Starting at second base for Gleyber Torres, Cabrera went 2-for-4 with a two-run single and has now hit safely in each of his last six starts (coming in the Yankees’ last 12 games), batting 9-for-18 in that span. 

“It feels so great when we do good things for the team and we win,” Cabrera said. 

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Alex Verdugo snapped an 0-for-20 skid when he hit a single up the middle in the sixth inning. 

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Nick Burdi (right hip inflammation) faced live hitters at the Yankees’ complex in Tampa last week and is set to do so again this week.

If that goes well, the reliever could head to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre later this week to begin a rehab assignment after being out since May 24. 

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Jon Berti, who received a PRP injection on Saturday after suffering a setback in his recovery from a right calf strain, hit and played catch Monday but is “still a little slow-moving,” Boone said. 

“It’s not a shutdown or anything like that,” the manager said. “Those calves can be tricky sometimes. I’ve been through it myself as a player. Obviously trying to get him back as soon as possible, but still going to be a little bit of time.”