Hicks with Sticks

Aaron Hicks had a night to remember in Sunday’s 11-1 thrashing of the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.

After grounding out in his first at-bat, he tagged Red Sox’ starter David Price for a two-run homer in the second inning that increased the Yankees’ lead to 6-0. He next strolled to the dish in the fourth inning, where he victimized Price again, this time for a solo shot that increased the Bombers’ edge to 8-0.

His next time up in the sixth inning, Hicks drew a walk off of Justin Haley. He wasn’t finished yet though. He sauntered up to the plate again in the eighth inning, where he clobbered a Hector Velasquez offering over the wall in right field for his third home run of the ballgame.

'It feels awesome,'' Hicks told reporters after the game. ''I blacked out after the third one. Kind of didn't know what to do. But I mean, it's exciting.''

Hicks became the first lead-off hitter in the storied history of the Yankees’ franchise to hit three home runs in a single game. It was the first three-homer game by any Yankees’ hitter since Alex Rodriguez accomplished the feat in July of 2015.

It was also the second time in Hicks’ career that he homered from both sides of the plate in the same game. He joined Mark Teixeira and Lou Gehrig as the only players in Yankees’ history to collect a three-homer game against the Red Sox.

Hicks certainly had the most impressive night of any Yankees’ hitter, but he wasn’t the only one who flashed the lumber. All told the Yankees smashed six home runs in the ballgame, five of them off of Price. They have now clubbed 137 home runs on the season, the highest total in franchise history before the All-Star break.

Aaron Judge had three hits and blasted his 22nd home run of the season. Rookie third baseman Gleyber Torres smacked a three-run homer, his 15th of the season.

Kyle Higashioka also got in on the fun, launching the first home run of his big league career. That one, as well as Hicks’ third bomb of the game, were met by the silent treatment upon return to the dugout.

While the Bombers’ got a boatload of offensive support in this one, it wasn’t all needed. Luis Severino delivered another extremely impressive performance on the hill, striking out six batters over 6 ⅔ shutout innings.

In doing so, Severino became the first 13-game winner in the big leagues this season and he also lowered his American League-leading ERA to 1.98. He also boasts a minuscule 0.95 WHIP and 138/29 K/BB ratio across 118 ⅓ innings on the year, putting himself firmly in the discussion for the American League Cy Young Award.

With the win, the Yankees move back into a tie with the Red Sox for first place in the American League East.

Snell-Tastic

Blake Snell has always been long on promise and potential since the Rays made him a first-round selection in the 2011 draft. He ascended to the big league rotation as a 23-year-old in 2016 and while he showed flashes of greatness, struggled with his command and consistency.

The results were mixed again over 24 starts with the Rays in 2017, compiling a 4.04 ERA and still troublesome 1.33 WHIP with a 119/59 K/BB ratio over 129 ⅓ innings.

2018 has been a completely different story.

Snell went out and dominated yet again on Sunday, limiting the Astros to just one-run on four hits and a walk over 7 ⅓ stellar innings. Snell racked up 10 strikeouts in the contest. It was the fourth time this season, and the second straight outing, in which the left-hander has punched out 10 or more batters.

Snell has now allowed one earned run or fewer in each of his last 11 starts at Tropicana Field, the longest such streak for any hurler at home in the American League since 1913.

Astros’ manager A.J. Hinch was certainly impressed with what he witnessed, telling reporters, "He's nasty… He’s mid-to-upper 90s with a power breaking ball and pretty good changeup. It looks like his delivery has cleaned up over the last couple of years where he can get down the hill and stay in the strike zone where it's tough to hit. He's killing the whole league and he's a nice, young pitcher."

It all starts with the walk rate, as Snell has posted a career-best 3.4 BB/9 this season. He’s also striking out hitters at the highest rate of his career, with a 10.19 K/9 mark.

With Sunday’s victory, Snell now sits at 11-4 on the season with a brilliant 2.24 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 123/41 K/BB ratio across 108 ⅔ innings.

Trum-Bombs Away

Mark Trumbo got off to a slow start to the season, as did the Baltimore Orioles. Unlike the Orioles, Trumbo has really started to turn things around.

The 32-year-old slugger couldn’t find his power stroke through his first 36 games, slashing .248/.310/.383 with just three homers and 11 RBI in 145 plate appearances.

Since then however, he has looked much more like the Trumbo that fantasy owners have come to know and love over the years. Over his last 14 games, Trumbo has hit .294 (15-for-51) with five homers and 14 RBI.

That includes a pair of solo shots in Sunday’s victory over the Angels.

The Orioles aren’t going to compete this season, as even with Sunday’s win they sit at an abysmal 24-59 mark. Trumbo can certainly still be useful to fantasy owners in need of power though. He’s currently owned in only 31% of all Yahoo leagues and could be an impact addition over the final three months of the season.

American League Quick Hits: Matt Chapman (hand) is expected to be activated from the disabled list on Tuesday… Carlos Carrasco (elbow) will rejoin the Indians' rotation Friday against the Athletics…. Leonys Martin suffered a left hamstring injury in a victory over the Blue Jays and was subsequently placed on the 10-day disabled list… Leury Garcia was forced to leave Sunday’s game with a jammed finger on his left hand… Manny Machado clubbed his 21st home run in a win over the Angels… Charlie Morton racked up 11 strikeouts over 6 ⅔ innings of shutout baseball in a tough-luck loss against the Rays… Evan Gattis blasted a pair of solo homers in that loss… Nick Castellanos went 2-for-4 and blasted a grand slam, halting the Tigers’ 11-game losing streak… Jordan Zimmermann struck out six batters over seven innings of one-run ball in a victory over the Jays… Niko Goodrum went 4-for-4 and scored three runs in that rout… Lance Lynn was slaughtered for seven runs in just 1 ⅔ innings against the Cubs… Brad Keller allowed just one run on six hits over eight innings in a loss to the Mariners… James Paxton whiffed 11 over eight shutout innings to earn a victory over the Royals… Edwin Diaz locked down his league-leading 32nd save to close it out… Avisail Garcia went 4-for-5 with two doubles and a triple in a win over the Rangers, extending his hitting streak to 11 games… Francisco Lindor homered, doubled twice, walked twice and scored four runs in a rout over the Athletics. He now has 21 long balls on the season… Yonder Alonso went 4-for-6 with two doubles and three RBI as the Indians crushed the A’s…

National League Quick Hits: Ryan Zimmerman (oblique) will hit in a simulated game on Monday… Paul DeJong (hand) will play full rehab games with Triple-A Memphis on Monday and Tuesday before being re-evaluated… Jay Bruce (hip) will resume taking batting practice late this week…. Nick Kingham will be recalled from Triple-A to start against the Dodgers on Monday…Chad Bettis was forced to leave his start against the Dodgers after three innings due to a hot spot on his right middle finger... The Cardinals placed Dexter Fowler on paternity leave and are expected to recall Tyler O’Neill on Monday to take his place… Pablo Sandoval was pulled from Sunday’s game with a right elbow contusion, he’s day-to-day… Addison Russell will be re-examined on Tuesday after having his left hand stepped on during a collision in Sunday’s game…  Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced that Max Muncy will be his regular second baseman going forward… Steven Matz struck out six and didn’t allow an earned run over 5 ⅓ innings in a win over the Marlins… Matt Harvey struck out six and allowed just two hits over 5 ⅔ shutout innings in an impressive victory over the Brewers… Jose Peraza smashed a grand slam to lead the Reds’ offense in that win… Freddie Freeman clubbed a two-run homer, his 16th in a win over the Cardinals… Mike Foltynewicz struck out nine over five scoreless frames to earn a win there… Javier Baez went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI as the Cubs defeated the Twins in a slug fest at Wrigley Field… Andrew Knapp belted a pinch-hit walk-off homer to beat the Nationals in the 13th inning… Colin Moran belted a grand slam in a victory over the Padres… Nolan Arenado remained red-hot, blasting his 21st homer in a loss to the Dodgers… Matt Kemp went 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBI, leading the Dodgers past the Rockies...