Aaron Judge, Ben Rice power Yankees’ home opener win over Marlins

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 03: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees hits a two run home run in the first inning against the Miami Marlins during the home opener at Yankee Stadium on April 03, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) | Getty Images Everything’s been coming up Yankees for the first week or so of the 2026 season. After a 5-1 West Coast trip to open the season that went about as good as anyone could’ve asked for, the Bronx Bombers came home to face an equally hot Miami Marlins team that was feeling good about themselves after a 5-1 start of their own, all at home.

Although the Marlins struck first off Will Warren early, the 26-year-old settled in and delivered a solid outing that would be more than enough for the Yankees. Aaron Judge set the tone with an early home run and had his first multi-hit game of the season, while Ben Rice shook off three strikeouts to start the game by adding much-appreciated insurance late to continue his blisteringly hot start, as the Yankees took the series opener on Friday afternoon, 8-2. The very start of the game didn’t go so hot for the Yankees, as the first roll call of the season was rudely interrupted by a Xavier Edwards solo home run to right field to give Miami a quick 1-0 lead.

Warren, unfazed by the quick deficit he faced, rebounded to get the next two hitters. Of course, that lead didn’t last too long. Trent Grisham worked a leadoff walk off 22-year-old fireballer Eury Pérez, and just three pitches later, the captain rang in 2026 at Yankee Stadium with a monstrous two-run shot to left to flip the scoreboard and make it 2-1 Yankees.

Statcast says it only went 378 feet, but it sure didn’t look like it. View Link Warren settled in and pitched a clean second with a pair of strikeouts. In the bottom half, the Yankees struck for another two runs without recording a hit.