PITTSBURGH (AP) — Trent Grisham homered twice, including a three-run shot to fuel a six-run fifth-inning rally, and the New York Yankees beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-4 on Saturday.

Grisham went deep against Bailey Falter (0-1) leading off the third, then did it again in the fifth on a towering fly ball that just scraped over the left-field fence as the Yankees won their third straight and improved to 6-2.

Paul Goldschmidt had three hits for New York, which has a record 25 home runs through eight games. Oswaldo Peraza added two hits and scored twice and Anthony Volpe also had two hits, including a bases-clearing double off Colin Holderman later in the fifth that gave the Yankees plenty of cushion. Aaron Judge, who leads the majors in homers and RBIs, singled in the 1,001st game of his career.

Mark Leiter Jr. (1-1) pitched a scoreless sixth for New York. Yankees starter Marcus Stroman gave up four runs — all in the fourth — on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts as his ERA pushed up to 7.27.

While Stroman has struggled early on, help for the starting rotation could be on the way. Clarke Schmidt pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings during a rehab start for Double-A Somerset on Saturday. He is expected to return to the Yankees by mid-April.

Ke’Bryan Hayes had two hits and drove in a run for the Pirates. Enmanuel Valdez added a two-run double during Pittsburgh’s fourth-inning surge that built a 4-2 lead.

It didn’t last. Jasson Dominguez doubled leading off the fifth. Peraza followed with a single and Grisham poked a 93 mph fastball on the outside corner down the left-field line for the third multi-homer game of his career to put New York in front to stay.

Key moment

The Pirates appeared to have momentum after getting to Stroman, bringing PNC Park — at least the portion not rooting for the Yankees — briefly to life. Grisham quieted them with one swing.

Key stat

At 2-7 the Pirates are off to their worst start since 2020, when they lost 10 of their first 12.

Up next

The series finishes up on Sunday. Will Warren (0-0, 3.60 ERA) starts for New York against Pittsburgh’s Andrew Heaney (0-0, 1.80).

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