Only Yankee younger than Lombard to hit grand slam: Mickey Mantle

NEW YORK – Early in his big league career, George Lombard Jr. has provided glimpses that illustrate why the Yankees are banking on him as their shortstop of the future. Now he has etched his name alongside one of the greats of the franchise’s storied past.

Lombard became the youngest Yankee to hit a grand slam since Mickey Mantle, clearing the right-field fence with a third-inning blast that helped power a 6-1 victory over the Rockies at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees had not hit a grand slam all season until Lombard’s opposite-field drive, coming on Tomoyuki Sugano’s 86.6 mph slider. Lombard’s drive cleared the wall for a Statcast-projected 353-foot blast.

It was Lombard’s third Major League home run, giving the Yankees a 5-0 lead at the time. Luis García Jr. had earlier hit a second-inning homer for the Yankees, who have won seven of their past 10 games.

Lombard was 21 years and 99 days old when he took the field on Wednesday. Mantle hit two grand slams at younger ages: 20 years, 280 days on July 26, 1952, at the Tigers, and 20 years, 283 days on July 29, 1952, at the White Sox.

Entering Wednesday, the Yankees were one of two Major League teams to have not hit a grand slam this season. The Brewers still have yet to hit one.

Returning to the rotation after a strong 2 1/3-inning relief appearance in San Diego on Friday, Will Warren held Colorado to Connor Norby’s fifth-inning solo homer over six sharp frames.

Warren permitted four hits, walking two and striking out eight. The Yankees have won 18 of Warren’s 27 starts.

Aaron Judge had two singles, his first hits since returning from the injured list on Tuesday.