Yankees use 10-run inning to rout hot Padres

Austin Wells hit a grand slam that capped a 10-run seventh inning for the New York Yankees, who emphatically snapped a three-game losing streak with a 12-3 rout of the visiting San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.

The Yankees avoided their season-high fourth straight loss by teeing off against Adrian Morejon (1-1) and Wandy Peralta and denied the Padres a seventh straight win.

Wells had the tying RBI single in his first at-bat of the inning and then lifted a full count changeup into the right field seats for his first career grand slam to cap the big frame.

Trent Grisham drew a four-pitch walk off Peralta to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead and Ben Rice followed with a two-run double for a 6-3 lead. Cody Bellinger and Anthony Volpe hit RBI singles before Wells hit his seventh home run of the season.

Padres star Jackson Merrill returned from a hamstring injury to go 2-for-4. The 2024 All-Star had last played on April 6.

Fernando Cruz (1-0) allowed an RBI double to Fernando Tatis Jr. in the seventh to put the Yankees behind 3-2. After he walked Luis Arraez to load the bases, Cruz fanned Manny Machado to keep the deficit at one run.

Before their biggest inning of the season sent the Yankees to their third win in eight games, Aaron Judge homered in the fourth off former teammate Michael King to extend his on-base streak to 32 games.

After Judge's 12th homer, Bellinger scored on a throwing error by Tatis in right field on a single by Jasson Dominguez.

The Padres scored their first two runs in the fourth on a balk by New York starter Clarke Schmidt and a sacrifice fly by Jason Heyward shortly after the balk.

King, who was acquired from the Yankees in December 2023 as part of the Juan Soto trade, allowed two runs on three hits in six innings. He struck out two and walked two.

Schmidt allowed two runs on seven hits in a season-high six innings after his start on Saturday was pushed back due to left side soreness. He struck out four and walked one.

--Field Level Media