NEW YORK YANKEES

New York Yankees

BALTIMORE — Kyle Gibson, signed out of desperation by the Baltimore Orioles, could not have asked for worse conditions to make his season debut: An 83-degree night at Camden Yards and the New York Yankees licking their chops.

And it took less than 10 minutes for the Bronx Bombers to welcome him back in the rudest fashion.

The Yankees led off the game with three consecutive home runs on the first five pitches of the game, added a fourth one out later and torched Gibson for seven hits and five runs before the Orioles even had a chance to bat.

The Yankees became the first team in major league history to twice in a season lead off a game with three consecutive home runs, repeating the feat first accomplished March 29 at Yankee Stadium against Milwaukee.

Gibson, 37, was summoned after a spate of spring training and early-season injuries and the poor performance of Charlie Morton to patchwork the worst rotation, by ERA, in the major leagues.

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Yet the Yankees needed no time to flex on him and grab a 5-0 lead before fans settled in at Camden Yards.

Trent Grisham, a 412-foot bomb onto Eutaw Street, on the game’s second pitch.

Aaron Judge, his team-leading ninth home run, 364 feet the opposite way.

Ben Rice, a changeup he quickly dispatched 378 feet to right.

After a Paul Goldschmidt groundout, Cody Bellinger crushed another Gibson offering to right field for a 4-0 lead. They plated another run on consecutive doubles by Jazz Chisholm and Anthony Volpe.

An inning later, Rice hit his second home run for a 6-0 lead, his first multi-homer game since hitting three against Boston in 2024.

The Yankees’ first back-to-back-to-back first-inning barrage came in Game 2 of the season, when they posterized former teammate Nestor Cortes for consecutive homers by Goldschmidt, Bellinger, and Judge leading off the first.

Judge hit three homers that day and the Yankees hit a franchise-record nine, causing a brief media tumult thanks to the torpedo bats Volpe and Chisholm used. Judge needs no torpedo; he continued his sizzling first month with his usual lumber.

For Gibson, it was the first time he’d given up four homers in an inning and his five homers given up were a career high — and he needed just two innings to do so. He gave up 11 hits, nine runs, five home runs and two walks before manager Brandon Hyde removed him with two outs in the fourth.

And now the Yankees have a major league-leading 50 home runs — with plenty of game left.

This story has been updated with new information.

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