DETROIT _ Gary Sanchez's latest August assault continued Wednesday night, with his first at-bat.
A first-inning home run off Tigers starter Jordan Zimmerman was followed up by Sanchez's soft, two-run single in the third _ kickstarting the Yankees' five-run inning at Comerica Park.
And for a second straight night, Sanchez's teammates chimed in offensively in a thorough 10-2 Yankees victory before 29,695 fans.
Didi Gregorius and Chase Headley each added solo home runs, Aaron Judge cracked a long, RBI double to center and Ronald Torreyes had four hits, providing plenty of punch for an effective Luis Severino.
The right-handed Severino (11-5) yielded one run _ Ian Kinsler's solo homer _ in 6 2/3 innings. He gave up six hits and one walk with eight strikeouts, winning for the sixth time in his last seven starts.
An eight-game road trip concludes on Thursday afternoon, with the Yankees (68-57) in position to sweep three-games from the toothless Tigers (54-71).
Sanchez now has seven homers in his last nine games and 11 in his last 14, a power run on par with last August, when he claimed both AL Rookie and Player of the Month awards.
"So far, August has been a good month for him ... it really is amazing this time of year," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said before Wednesday's game of his slugging catcher's production, especially remarkable given the grind of his position.
"There aren't that many catchers that have that ability," Girardi said of Sanchez's power. "We saw it last year and you're seeing it somewhat this year. It's a great trait to have."
After belting two homers in Tuesday night's 13-4 win _ including one that traveled 493 feet according to MLB Statcast _ Sanchez set the tone against Zimmerman, with a two-out solo shot to left.
In the midst of a shaky season, Zimmerman (7-11) managed to remain dominant against the Yankees earlier this month, going seven scoreless innings in a 2-0 Tigers win on Aug. 2 at the Stadium.
That victory improved Zimmerman's record against the Yankees to 3-0 with a 1.33 ERA in four career starts.
But the right-hander began to unravel in the third, which opened with singles by Jacoby Ellsbury and Torreyes, the No. 9 hitter.
Jacoby Ellsbury tagged up and Torreyes smartly advanced with him on center fielder Andrew Romine's misguided throw to third base. Aaron Hicks' walk loaded the bases, setting up Sanchez's pop-fly, two-run single to shallow center.
Judge mashed an RBI double over Romine's head, Gregorius delivered an RBI single and Headley's sac fly made it 6-0.
In five innings, Zimmerman was charged with seven runs on nine hits and one walk. He didn't strike out anyone.
Sanchez finished the night 2-for-5 with three RBIs, giving him a .345 (19-for-55) average over his last 14 games, with 12 runs, nine homers and 20 RBIs.
On Tuesday night, Sanchez's first home run was the longest ever measured by Statcast at Comerica Park and the second-longest homer by a big-leaguer this year, behind Aaron Judge's 495-foot blast against the Orioles on June 11 at Yankee Stadium.
But Judge was plenty awed by what Sanchez did in Tuesday's first inning against Tigers lefty Matthew Boyd.
"Sitting back on a change-up like that, taking the swing that he did _ first at-bat _ it was pretty impressive," Judge said.
Now, Sanchez's 26 homers this year led all MLB catchers, and Sanchez missed a month early in the season due to a torn right biceps.
Sanchez has 10 homers and 21 RBIs this August. He finished last August with 11 homers and 21 RBIs in 29 games.
"Right now, I'm getting really good results. It's hard to compare it," Sanchez said through a translator of this August and last August. "I really don't know if I feel the same way as last year. ... But I'm feeling good right now."
