NEW YORK — George Lombard Jr. gave the Yankees what they had waited all season to see. The 21-year-old shortstop and top prospect launched the club's first grand slam of 2026 on Wednesday, an opposite-field drive that gave New York a 5-0 lead against the Rockies at the time and marked his third home run of the season.
Batting in the third inning against Colorado's Tomoyuki Sugano, Lombard turned on an 86.6 mph slider and sent it the other way toward right field. The ball cleared the wall for a Statcast-projected 353-foot drive, a flash of the swing path and raw power the Yankees believed would translate once he was ready to handle top-flight pitching.
At 21 years and 99 days old Wednesday, Lombard became the third-youngest Yankees player to hit a grand slam. He trails only Mickey Mantle, who did it at 20 years and 280 days on July 26, 1952, at the Tigers and again at 20 years and 283 days on July 29, 1952, at the White Sox.
Entering Wednesday, the Yankees were one of two Major League teams without a grand slam this season. The Brewers still have yet to hit one. Before Lombard's slam, New York's most recent grand slam was hit by Ben Rice last Sept. 21 vs. the Orioles.