Aaron Judge leads the Yankees to victory with a first inning homer over San Francisco Giants

An Aaron Judge home run and a new Opening Day strikeout record from Gerrit Cole – it couldn’t have gone much better for the Yankees against the Giants on a cold Thursday in New York.

Judge crushed a huge 422-foot shot deep into the center of the field with just his second pitch of the game to give the Yankees the lead in the first inning and they didn’t look back, recording a 5-0 victory.

Judge’s homer was not just his first of the season – it was the first of the entire season and he also ended the game with two RBIs. Meanwhile, Anthony Volpe made his first Yankees appearance at shortstop and ended the game 0-for-2 with a walk and stolen base

Cole was just as clinical from the mound with 11 strikeouts against the San Francisco Giants at Yankees stadium. He also restricted the Giants to three hits and two walks across six shutout innings.

But it was Judge, the new Yankees captain, who set the tone for his team facing just his second pitch of the season.

From the mound, Gerrit Cole was in superb form and set a new Opening Day Yankees record

Yankee Stadium was packed with excited fans for the first game of the new 2023 season 

His booming strike off pitcher Logan Webb sent Yankee Stadium into euphoria as the slugger continued with the electrifying from that saw him make American League history with 62 home runs in 2022 – eclipsing the record set by the legendary Roger Maris.

As Judge rounded the basis to wild cheers from the 46,000 fans in Yankee Stadium, the Giants could have been forgiven for wondering what might have been. 

Late last year, with Judge seemingly at an impasse in talks with the Yankees over a new contract, he was strongly linked with a move back to California, where he grew up, with the Giants.

But he struck a deal to stay in pinstripes in the end, with a nine-year $360m deal signed to stay. 

Then, from the mound, Cole was holding up his end of the deal. He recorded seven straight strikeouts to stifle any attempt from the Giants to build any momentum in response to Judge. 

Gleyber Torres hit a second home run in the fourth for the Yankees on the way to victory.

It was also the first MLB game for both teams under the new pitch clock. In the ninth inning, there was an automatic strike called on JD Davis, the former Met who now plays for the Giants. The game lasted two hours and 33 minutes.

Anthony Rizzo gifted his Yankees teammates with two bottles of wine from a winery in Italy he visited in the offseason to commemorate opening day.

Anthony Volpe made his first start for the Yankees and produced an impressive display

Gleyber Torres also hit a home run for the Yankees on the way to a commanding triumph

There’s nothing to toast on day one of a long season ahead but there a signs that it will taste a little but sweeter if the Yankees continue producing such authoritative performances.

They return to Yankee Stadium on Saturday for the second of three home games against the Giants, with the final one on Sunday.