MILWAUKEE — Trent Grisham returned to his old stomping grounds Friday without a hit as a Yankee.
The center fielder changed that in style, clubbing a three-run home run that put the Yankees ahead before falling to the Brewers, 7-6 in 11 innings, at American Family Field.
“It was nice to finally get that monkey off my back and get going that way,” Grisham said. “To do it in that fashion was special.”
Grisham, a former first-round draft pick of the Brewers in 2015, was starting just his sixth game of the season Friday and came into the night 0-for-12 with two walks.
The Brewers had just taken a 4-2 lead when Grisham walked to the plate in the fourth inning with two outs and two runners on.
Against right-hander Colin Rea, he hit a long fly ball down the right-field line that was just foul.
Two pitches later, though, he clobbered another pitch and kept it fair for a three-run homer into the second deck, providing the Yankees a 5-4 lead.
“Excited for him and that,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Good at-bat to walk earlier and then really step on one to give us a lead at that time was big.”
Grisham had taken more than 500 at-bats in each of the last three years before playing sporadically early this season, which has been an adjustment.
“It’s different, for sure,” he said. “But there’s a lot of good people around me helping me out adjusting to a new role. … [The biggest challenge is] just not really doing it a whole lot before. Just kind of getting used to it, really. It’s the same game once you step out there and do it.”
