George Lombard Jr. delivers Yankees first grand slam of season in rout of Rockies

The Yankees arrived at Game 145 of the season having crushed 194 home runs, good for the fourth most in the majors, despite missing Aaron Judge for three months.And yet, somewhat inexplicably, none of those 194 blasts had come with the bases loaded.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.

George Lombard Jr.changed that Wednesday night, delivering the kind of juice that typically comes with grand slams as the Yankees’ first of the season fueled a 6-1 win over the Rockies in The Bronx.Judge, in his second game back from an extended stay on the injured list for a broken rib, recorded a pair of singles, one of which started the rally that led to Lombard’s first career grand slam.

Judge played eight innings in right field before giving way to a pinch runner in the bottom of the eighth as the Yankees (83-62) continue to build him up carefully while trying to chase down the division, remaining four games back of the Rays with 17 games to play while moving to four games clear of the Red Sox for the top AL wild card.Luis García Jr.and Cody Bellinger added solo shots — the latter ensuring David Bednar did not have to pitch the ninth inning — as the Yankees won on a day that began with news that Jazz Chisholm Jr.

would require a stint on the injured list due to a right thumb sprain.Lombard’s long ball off Tomoyuki Sugano proved to be the difference on a night when Will Warren pitched well again, holding the Rockies (55-90) to one run across six innings while striking out eight.It came five days after Warren tossed 2 ¹/₃ scoreless innings of relief against the Padres — offering a preview of what may be to come in the postseason before he returned to a starting role Wednesday with an uptick in velocity for a third straight outing.In an odd outing, Sugano retired the Yankees in order in four of his six innings.

But in the other two, they made him pay.After Suga...