The New York Yankees turned a three-run deficit into a piece of franchise history Sunday afternoon, exploding for 13 runs in the third inning en route to a 13-8 victory over the Athletics at Sutter Health Park.
For a franchise that has featured everyone from Babe Ruth to Aaron Judge, innings like this remain exceedingly rare. The Yankees sent 18 batters to the plate in the third, collecting 11 hits and four walks while batting around twice in a frame that lasted more than 40 minutes and completely altered the course of the game.
Trailing 3-0 entering the inning, the Bronx Bombers immediately went to work. The first 12 Yankees reached base safely, producing eight hits and four walks before Paul Goldschmidt recorded the inning’s first out. By that point, New York had already crossed the plate 10 times.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Yankees became just the third team in the Expansion Era to have 12 consecutive batters reach base to begin an inning, joining the 1986 Royals and 2009 Red Sox. Their 10 runs scored before recording an out tied for the second-most by any team in the Expansion Era.
The 13-run outburst also tied the second-highest scoring inning in franchise history and fell just one run shy of the Yankees’ all-time club record of 14 runs in a single inning, established on July 6, 1920 against Washington during the Babe Ruth era.
What made the inning even more remarkable was the absence of a home run. Despite piling up 13 runs, the Yankees never left the yard, becoming just the fifth team in the Expansion Era to score at least 13 runs in an inning without a home run.
Ben Rice delivered the biggest blows of the inning, ripping a two-run double and later adding a two-run triple to finish with four RBIs during the rally. Anthony Volpe and Cody Bellinger each contributed two hits in the frame, while former Athletic Max Schuemann drew a walk and later added a two-run double against his former organization.
Every Yankees starter came to the plate twice during the inning, illustrating just how relentless the attack became.
The offensive eruption proved necessary as Oakland refused to go quietly. The Athletics chipped away against the Yankees bullpen, scoring five late runs and trimming what was once a 10-run advantage to five by the eighth inning. Fortunately for New York, the historic third inning had already provided more than enough cushion.
The victory secured a road series win for the Yankees and served as another reminder of how dangerous their lineup can be when it gets rolling. More importantly, it placed the 2026 Yankees alongside some of the most explosive offenses in franchise history, joining a record book that dates back more than a century.
