NEW YORK (AP) — The Yankees found a stash hidden in Round Rock.
Less than a month after he was languishing in the minors, Matt Carpenter showed why his bat has become popular with New York teammates — along with that bushy mustache.
Carpenter homered twice and tied his career high with seven RBIs, powering an 18-4 rout of the Chicago Cubs on Sunday that completed a weekend sweep and gave the major league-leading Yankees their their 11th win in 12 games.
“It’s pretty hard to be in Triple-A and imagine that you’ll get this opportunity,” the 36-year-old said.
Carpenter drew a tying bases-loaded walk as New York chased Keegan Thompson (6-2) in a five-run first and hit a three-run homer off Daniel Norris for an 8-1 lead in the second.
Carpenter added a two-run drive against Alec Mills in the sixth for his first multihomer game in four years and an RBI double in the seventh against Sean Newcomb as the Yankees sent Chicago to its sixth straight loss.
All the more impressive given Carpenter had gotten just two plate appearances since June 3.
“I put him in the garage for a week and pulled him out for a spin,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “That’s impressive.”
Kyle Higashioka added his first two home runs this season, after hitting seven in spring training. Giancarlo Stanton and Isiah Kiner-Falefa had three RBIs each as the Yankees sprayed a season-high 17 hits and scored their most runs since beating Toronto 20-6 on Sept. 15, 2020.
Higashioka and Carpenter were late additions to the lineup because second baseman Gleyber Torres felt nausea and catcher Jose Trevino had back pain.
Carpenter raised his average to .333 with 13 RBIs. Signed on May 26 because of injuries to Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson, Carpenter became the first Yankees player to hit six home runs in…