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The New York Yankees looked completely out of sync through the first two innings on Sunday.
Athletics starter Jacob Lopez retired all six batters he faced, and one of baseball's most dangerous lineups had yet to record a hit. Aaron Judge wasn't interested in letting that continue. The Yankees captain admitted after the game that he delivered a strong message to his teammates in the dugout, challenging them to wake up and play to the standard they expect from themselves.
What followed was one of the most remarkable offensive explosions in franchise history. New York scored 13 runs in the third inning alone and rolled to a 13-8 victory over the Athletics, coming within a single run of a franchise record that has stood for 106 years.
"I just felt like we were a little asleep there that first two innings," Judge said. "I expect more out of the guys, and I know they expect more of themselves. A couple of choice words there just to get it going. The boys responded."
Responded might not even begin to describe it.
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Yankees unleash historic third inning
The Yankees turned the third inning into a nightmare for Athletics pitchers. Anthony Volpe opened the frame with a single, and New York never looked back. The Yankees sent 18 batters to the plate, collected 11 hits, drew four walks and stole four bases in a staggering 43-minute inning. They forced Oakland pitchers to throw 75 pitches and scored 10 runs before the first out was even recorded.
By the time the dust settled, New York had scored 13 runs. The outburst tied the Yankees' highest-scoring inning since June 21, 2005, when they also scored 13 runs in an inning against the Tampa Bay Rays. More impressively, it left them just one run short of the franchise record of 14 runs in an inning, which was set on July 6, 1920, against the Washington Senators.
Sunday Series Win.#RepBX pic.twitter.com/KecL0iaO7J
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 1, 2026The rally just kept going
There seemed to be no stopping the Yankees once they got rolling. Paul Goldschmidt drove in a run with an infield single after Athletics starter Jacob Lopez failed to cover first base. Ben Rice followed with a two-run double before Judge and Cody Bellinger each added RBI singles.
The damage continued after a pitching change. New York began the inning with 12 consecutive batters reaching base safely, the first Major League team to accomplish that feat in an inning since the Boston Red Sox did it in 2009.
Rice later added a two-run triple, becoming one of the biggest stars of the inning. Meanwhile, every batter in the Yankees lineup scored a run, and eight of the nine starters recorded both a hit and an RBI. Volpe's afternoon was so unusual that he nearly batted three times in the same inning.
"I was getting ready to go hit again," Volpe said. "It was crazy."
Even Yankees pitchers had to adjust
The inning lasted so long that Yankees starter Will Warren had to head back to the bullpen to stay loose. With more than 40 minutes passing between pitches, Warren threw several warmup tosses before returning to the mound. That's how extraordinary the inning became. Ironically, the Yankees managed almost nothing offensively the rest of the game. Their only baserunner over the final eight innings came on a Cody Bellinger walk.
But none of that mattered. Judge's challenge had already sparked the inning that decided the game. The Yankees fell one run short of matching a record that has survived for more than a century, but they still produced a performance that will be remembered as one of the wildest offensive innings in franchise history.
All because their captain decided it was time for everybody to wake up.
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