St. Louis Cardinals at New York Yankees

NEW YORK – In the hours leading up to his much-anticipated MLB debut, George Lombard Jr. did not show any nerves. In fact, the 21-year-old went so far as to say he was relaxed. Judging by his performance, it is hard not to believe him. The Yankees’ top-ranked prospect dazzled with his glove at shortstop and launched a towering home run in his second career at-bat, bringing a raucous crowd of 41,081 inside Yankee Stadium to its feet. Lombard finished his evening 1-for-2 with a walk, jolting the Yankees to a crisp 2-0 victory over the Cardinals on Tuesday night. Lombard was the youngest player to start at shortstop for the Yankees since Derek Jeter on June 11, 1995. To anyone watching, it sure didn’t look like it. “He had a great debut,” said left-hander Ryan Weathers, who tossed six scoreless innings. “He took it by storm.” That he did. The keynote came in the fifth inning, as Lombard stepped in against right-hander Hunter Dobbins, a power pitcher with an elaborate six-pitch mix. In their first encounter, Dobbins started Lombard with a pair of fastballs before pivoting to spin. Lombard bounced out softly to third base. This time, Dobbins followed a similar script, and Lombard was ready for the dose of breaking pitches. He ambushed an 0-2 sweeper, depositing it into the left-center-field seats.