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.
“It’s pretty cool,” Lombard said. “It’s definitely a little different from the first home run. A grand slam is cool. It was a big swing to put us in front and give us a good lead so we could win today.”
The Yankees had not hit a grand slam all season until Lombard connected with Tomoyuki Sugano’s 86.6 mph slider, launching an opposite-field drive that cleared the right-field wall for a Statcast-projected 353-foot blast.
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.
“It’s obviously pretty special,” Lombard said. “That’s up there – a legend in the game, and especially here.”
Additionally, Mantle and Lou Gehrig are the only other Yankees since 1920 to have at least four RBIs in a game at a younger age than Lombard.
Luis García Jr. and Cody Bellinger also homered for the Yankees (83-62), who have won seven of their past 10 games to move a season-high 21 games over .500. They remain four games behind the Rays (87-58) in the American League East.
Aaron Judge played eight innings in the field and had two singles, his first hits since returning from the injured list on Tuesday.
“It’s all real valuable for him, just continuing to see different pitches and have at-bats,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I feel like his swing decisions have been pretty good so far.”
Boone could say the same about Lombard. The Yankees’ most recent grand slam had been hit by Ben Rice, last Sept. 21 at Baltimore. Entering Wednesday, the Yankees were one of two Major League teams without a grand slam this season; the Brewers still have yet to hit one.
“Hopefully, they come in bunches,” Boone said.
Promoted from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after the Trade Deadline, Lombard impressed quickly, belting a home run in his Major League debut on Aug. 4 vs. St. Louis and going 18-for-63 (.286) through his first 18 games.
Lombard has built a reputation for sure-handed defense through the Minors, but he tied a century-old franchise record by committing errors in six consecutive games in late August, a stretch that also saw him deal with a tweak to his right knee that kept him out of four games.
“I think it was good in a way for me to get through that,” Lombard said. “Obviously, it wasn’t good for the team; it put us in a bad spot. But I think I just learned from it. That’s all you can do, is just gain that experience and see how it is to bounce back from that and deal with that. I’m definitely in a better place.”
Bellinger said he remembers a teenaged Lombard bouncing around the Dodgers’ clubhouse and taking ground balls alongside Corey Seager years ago, when George Lombard Sr. was a coach with Los Angeles.
“He’s been around the game in different ways than a lot of kids, and it shows,” Bellinger said. “He’s got a good head on his shoulders. He understands what he wants to do.”
Similarly, Yankees starter Will Warren has been impressed by Lombard’s maturity, noting, “He’s young, but he carries himself like he’s been around for a long time. Even when he has a bad go, I feel like he’s just professional about it.”
Returning to the rotation after a strong 2 1/3-inning relief appearance in San Diego on Friday, 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. Bellinger hit an eighth-inning homer for the Yankees, who have won 18 of Warren’s 27 starts.
“I think I trust everything that I have throughout the season, even when it wasn’t going good there for a minute,” Warren said. “When you can throw it where you want to, you can trust it a little more. I think it just makes the outing a little easier.”