When the baseball finally landed in the second deck high above the field at historic Yankee Stadium, JJ Matijevic had his second big-league hit.
Two hits. Two home runs.
Matijevic, who started at first base, hit another solo homer as the Houston Astros no-hit the New York Yankees, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon in the Bronx.
The Norwin alum tacked on one of his signature bat flips for effect after his blast to right field.
The Houston Astros are having some fun with their rookie call-up, labeling him “Mashijevic.”
J.J. Mashijevic. pic.twitter.com/IH9bJP9zF9
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 25, 2022
Deep in the heart of the jungle. pic.twitter.com/X1sQfa5Voo
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 25, 2022
In the majors for the second time this season from Triple-A Sugar Land, perhaps this time to stay as he continues to produce, Matijevic took former Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Gerrit Cole deep with two outs in the top of the seventh inning to break a scoreless tie.
Relatively quiet at Yankee Stadium after JJ Matijevic blew up a Gerrit Cole pitch, sending it to the second deck. pic.twitter.com/d7nHNpt6hn
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) June 25, 2022
The early offense gave the Astros’ pitching staff some room to work on the first no-hitter against the Yankees since 2003 — when six Astros pitchers combined on the no-no.
Starter Cristian Javier set the tone. He pitched seven innings and struck out 13, and Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly worked one inning apiece to shut down the Yankees.
Yuli Gurriel and Jose Altuve also had RBIs for Houston.
Matijevic, 26, was recalled to Houston on June 15 to replace Jeremy Pena, who went on the 10-day injured list, also homered in a 4-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Father’s Day.
He is 2 for 14 in seven major league games.
Relatively quiet at Yankee Stadium after JJ Matijevic blew up a Gerrit Cole pitch, sending it to the second deck. pic.twitter.com/d7nHNpt6hn
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) June 25, 2022
