Juan Soto hit a three-run homer and Cody Poteet pitched six solid innings in his debut for New York as the Yankees won 8-2 to sweep a doubleheader on Saturday over the Cleveland Guardians and continue one of the strongest starts in their storied history.
New York took the opener 3-2.
The Yankees are 12-3 for the seventh time and first since 2003, when they made one of their 40 trips to the World Series. They’re 8-1 on the road.
Soto, acquired by the club in an offseason trade from San Diego to put New York back on top, connected in the fourth off Triston McKenzie (1-2), who struggled from the outset and walked six in four innings. Poteet (1-0) allowed one run and six hits while picking up his first win since 2021 — 1,056 days ago — with Miami. The 29-year-old did not pitch in the majors last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2022.
He signed a contract in January with New York to add pitching depth after the Yankees traded some of it away in the deal for Soto.
One of the few bright spots for Cleveland was Estevan Florial, who homered in the fifth inning to help avert a shutout. Florial was once rated New York’s top prospect before the club traded him to the Guardians in December. Josh Naylor also homered in Game 2 for the Guardians, who are 1-9 in their last five doubleheaders.
Already down 3-0 following Anthony Volpe‘s RBI single, McKenzie grooved a 3-0 fastball that Soto pounded over the wall in center for his third homer with New York.
UP NEXT:
Yankees LHP Nestor Cortes (1-1, 3.50 ERA) starts the series finale against LHP Logan Allen (2-0, 4.60). Cortes pitched eight scoreless innings in his previous outing against Miami.