Watch: Yankees' Austin Wells blasts 2 HRs against Cardinals in career-first multihomer game
Austin Wells created history by taking credit for the New York Yankees' 6-3 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night. Wells amazed fans in Yankee Stadium after he hit deep twice in one game, which was the first time to happen in his six-year major league career.
The rookie catcher has been on fire so far as he's hitting .346 with 21 RBIs and five home runs in just 20 games. Moreover, Wells hit his first homer for two runs against Erick Fedde which propelled his team to a 4-2 lead. The next one came off Riley O'Brien for the final 6-3 lead of the game.
Wells also shared his feelings about going after captain Aaron Judge, and how he's trying to cope with it:
“I’m having a lot of fun with it,” Wells said. “I’m accepting it and embracing the challenge.”
Wells proved his mettle last night by leading his team to victory and has significantly improved his at-bat presence in comparison to the last season. With every game, Wells is coming out to be a great prospect for the team, raising his average 44 points to .256.
Juan Soto and Aaron Boone sing words of praise for Austin Wells
Austin Wells filled in for Judge quite well after he was fouled out. While Juan Soto also garnered his 10th assist in the last 127 games against the Cardinals, he was quite impressed by the shots taken by Wells throughout the night (via MLB.com):
"I feel like the at-bats he’s been taking lately, he’s been showing that he knows the strike zone pretty well,” Soto said.
"So I think that’s what you need behind a big bat like Judge, a guy who can try to make good decisions, get the knocks, get the hits and keep the line moving," he added.
Later, Yankees manager Aaron Boone also had great things to say about the catcher during his post-game press conference:
"You go back, the catching was ahead of where we expected last year and at the start of this year, kind of waiting on the bat to come and it sure has," Boone said. "He puts together really good at-bats and then he’s got that power in there, too."
Austin Wells has seemingly built up great trust among his teammates and coaches and will hope to keep supporting his team as the Bronx Bombers (79-56) top the AL East standings in their bid for postseason success this year.