NEW YORK – Walking into the Yankees’ clubhouse for the first time, Luis García Jr. said he felt “very fortunate” to find a locker stocked with fresh pinstripes, remarking: “As players, I think everybody wants an opportunity to wear this jersey.”
He’ll never forget his first time, though his new teammates would’ve preferred a different outcome.
García launched a go-ahead, two-run homer that helped erase an early six-run deficit, but the Cardinals’ Nathan Church responded with a three-run blast that handed the Yankees a 13-7 loss on Monday at Yankee Stadium.
Church’s deciding blast came in the eighth inning and was the eighth home run of the game, coming off Angel Chivilli, who hadn’t allowed an earned run since April 16. Jimmy Crooks lifted a two-run shot later in the inning, and Alec Burleson added his third homer of the game, a two-run blast.
In the midst of a breakout season with the Nationals that included career highs in homers (23) and RBIs (76), García was obtained in a five-player deal on Sunday, intended to provide thump for a Yankees lineup that has sorely lacked it.
Through one game, the returns looked solid. García notched his first Yankees hit with a fourth-inning single, but his big moment came in the seventh, after Ryan McMahon and José Caballero opened the inning with back-to-back homers.
García hammered a George Soriano changeup into the right-center-field bullpen, giving the Yanks their first lead of the evening. Austin Wells and Trent Grisham also homered for New York.
Cam Schlittler’s pinpoint command was absent, as the right-hander endured his shortest outing of the season – just three innings, needing 83 pitches (51 strikes) to navigate that. Schlittler struck out six but walked five, permitting four runs and four hits. His American League-best ERA rose to 2.26.