George Lombard Jr. homers off Garrett Crochet, records two hits in Yankees' win over Red Sox

The Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox by a score of 4-0 on Wednesday afternoon. 

Here are the key takeaways...

-- Hello, George Lombard Jr.!

Batting leadoff and playing shortstop, the highly touted prospect launched a solo home run off of Garrett Crochet to lead things off in the top of the first. Lombard demolished a 97 MPH fastball on a 1-2 pitch, easily clearing the Green Monster-esque wall in left, traveling an estimated 392 feet.

His second time up, still facing Crochet, Lombard stung a single 108.5 MPH off the bat, good for a single up the middle. That chased Crochet from the game in the third (he would re-enter the game briefly in the fourth), with Lombard looking very much like one of the top infield prospects in baseball. 

-- Ben Rice continued his strong spring, ripping an RBI double off the wall in left in the third inning, putting the Yankees up 2-0.

Then, in the fifth inning, Rice stung a solo home run over the wall in right, pushing the Yankees lead to 4-0.

Rice went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI, and now has a 1.138 OPS.

-- Luis Gil got off to a strong start, striking out the first two hitters that he faced. Gil had an easy first two innings, but walked two batters to start the third. To the right-hander’s credit, thought, he rebounded to strike out the next three hitters to escape the inning without allowing a run. 

Gil pitched into the fourth inning, and was pulled at 56 pitches in the middle of an at-bat. Gil's final line read 3.0+ innings, allowing zero runs on two hits, two walks, and six strikeouts.

-- Spencer Jones was kept in the ballpark, but he did have a bloop ground-rule double in the fourth, part of a run-scoring rally.

Jones went 1-for-3 with a strikeout. 

-- Right-handed reliever Jake Bird pitched another 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit. While Bird struggled last season after being traded at the deadline from the Rockies to the Yankees, he's pitched well this spring, totaling 4.2 scoreless innings.

-- Braden Shewmake, a 28-year-old infielder claimed by the Yankees off waivers from the Royals in January, made a phenomenal defensive play in the eighth. With the Yankees holding a four-run lead, the Red Sox loaded the bases with no one out. Following a strikeout, Shewmake not only made a diving catch on a humpback liner to shallow left, but then had the awareness to get to one knee and throw a strike home to nab the runner trying to score. 

Highlights

Leadoff homer for George Lombard Jr. against Garrett Crochet! pic.twitter.com/8Z6UY0zNMX

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) 

Ben Rice with an RBI double off the Fort Myers Green Monster pic.twitter.com/7vGTfZwCh8

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) 

A sparkler from Shewmake to get us out of the inning 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Ib3rf6kvPK

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) 

Up Next

The Yankees host the Minnesota Twins in Tampa on Thursday afternoon at 1:05 p.m.