George Lombard Jr. hit his first career home run in his major league debut, Ryan Weathers pitched six strong innings and the host New York Yankees recorded a 2-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. also homered as the Yankees won for the 10th time in 16 games.
Lombard started at shortstop and batted eighth after the Yankees called him up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He is regarded as New York’s top prospect and the Yankees declined to include him in trades for star players ahead of Monday’s trade deadline.
Lombard grounded out in his first at-bat in the third inning against St. Louis starter Hunter Dobbins (2-2) before giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead in his second at-bat.
With one out in the fifth inning, Lombard lifted an 0-2 sweeper into the left field seats. As Lombard’s 392-foot drive cleared the fence, his parents hugged each other in the stands.
The 21-year-old became the first Yankee to homer in his debut since Jasson Dominguez on Sept. 1, 2023.
Lombard also turned a pair of double plays to end the second and fifth.
In the second, Lombard reached for field Blaze Jordan’s grounder and made an off-balance throw to second baseman Chisholm to begin the double play. In the fifth, Lombard grabbed Nathan Church’s grounder behind second base, stepped on the bag and made an accurate throw to first baseman Luis Garcia Jr.
Weathers (5-7) allowed four hits in his second straight scoreless start. The left-hander struck out six and walked one during his fourth scoreless start this season.
Lombard was not the only player to debut for the Yankees. Heliot Ramos went 0-for-4 and made a nice catch in left field with two on to end the sixth.
After Weathers finished his outing, three relievers combined to get the final nine outs. David Bednar struck out Nelson Velazquez with the bases loaded to end the eighth and got the final four outs to secure his 25th save.
Dobbins allowed two runs on four hits in 6 1/3 innings. The right-hander struck out four and walked three. Velazquez had a double for the Cardinals’ only extra-bases hit.
