NEW YORK -- Standing in the on-deck circle in preparation of his first at-bat as a New York Yankee, Aaron Judge watched Tyler Austin go from being behind in the count to hitting a home run.

His first thought?

"It was exciting," Judge said. "When Tyler went up there and got down 0-2 really quick, he battled and had a great at-bat and hit one out. I was ecstatic on deck and I was saying, 'Oh man, I got to make contact.' "

Not only did Judge make contact, he hit one of the longest home runs at Yankee Stadium.

Austin and Judge became the first pair of teammates to hit home runs in their first major league at-bats and the Yankees began the post-Alex Rodriguez era with an 8-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday afternoon.

"I don't think I could have asked for anything better," Austin said.

"You can't draw it up any better when you call up two young players," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Appropriately, Austin homered first when he sent a 2-2 fastball from Matt Andriese (6-4) over the right field wall and into the first row of the seats. Austin knew he was coming to New York to replace Rodriguez when he was pulled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre's lineup in Rochester Friday afternoon.

Judge did not find out until about midnight when eating a postgame meal with his family after hitting a grand slam for his 19th home run. His manager, Al Pedrique, came over to his table and told him he was getting the call and, about six hours later, Judge was in a New Jersey hotel ready for his debut as the right fielder.

After making a running catch against the wall in the first inning, Judge outdid Austin by sending a 1-2 breaking ball well over the center field wall.

The ball bounced off the facing of the sports bar beyond the fence into the netting above Monument Park. The 446-foot-blast made Judge the first Yankee and third player to a hit a home run to that location in the eight-year history of Yankee Stadium.

"Just got a good pitch to hit, just put the barrel on it, that's basically it," Judge said.

According to ESPN Stats and Info, Judge's blast was the longest by a Yankee in New York since Rodriguez on June 10, 2011, against Cleveland. The blast was so prodigious it led former Yankees manager Joe Torre to say "Wow" while he was a guest in the YES Network booth.

"It's a special shot," Girardi said. "I think you get excited."

It was the second time players homered in the first at-bat of their major league debuts in the same game, but they were opponents the first time: Brooklyn's Earnie Koy and Philadelphia's Emmett Mueller did it in the first inning at the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia on April 19, 1938.

Austin and Judge joined John Miller, Andy Phillips and New York assistant hitting coach Marcus Thames as the only players to homer in their first at-bats for the Yankees. Both players got the ball back without having to trade with fans for any memorabilia and gave it to their parents, who were in the stands and in the interview room following their first major league press conference.

Austin and Judge were the first pair of Yankees to make their debut in the starting lineup since catcher Johnny Ellis and center fielder Jim Lyttle drove in two runs apiece on May 17, 1969, vs. the California Angels. The young duo went a combined 4-for-8 with three runs scored and combined for 10 putouts at first base and right field, respectively.

"There's a lot of excitement that they have and probably rightfully so," Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. "Judge definitely looks the part. If he wasn't playing baseball, it looks like he should be a defensive end somewhere. He's massive."

Besides the rookie duo's big day, Starlin Castro hit a solo home run in the fourth, Aaron Hicks hit a tiebreaking three-run home run in the fifth and Didi Gregorius added a two-run shot in the seventh as the Yankees (60-56) matched a season high by going four games over .500.

Brad Miller recorded his sixth career multi-homer game by connecting in consecutive at-bats off Masahiro Tanaka (9-4) for the Rays.

Tanaka (9-4) retired the first 10 hitters and allowed four runs and five hits in seven innings. He gave up Miller's three-run home run in the fourth and a solo shot in the sixth.

Andriese allowed six runs and eight hits in five innings.

"I just kind of went out there with a little game plan that we came up with and good for those guys," Andriese said.

NOTES: The Yankees made five roster moves Saturday as they officially released DH Alex Rodriguez and purchased the contract of OF Aaron Judge and OF/IF Tyler Austin from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre. New York also optioned RHP Ben Heller to Triple-A and moved RHP Conor Mullee to the 60-day disabled list. ... Tampa Bay RHP Ryan Garton is the fourth rookie to retire a member of the 500 home run club when he struck out Rodriguez on Friday night. The others were Philadelphia's Jim Blevins in 1935 against Babe Ruth (Boston Braves), Philadelphia's Ken Reynolds against Ernie Banks (Chicago Cubs) in 1971 and Minnesota's Craig Breslow in 2008 against Frank Thomas (Oakland Athletics). ... The Yankees held a ceremony honoring members of the 1996 World Series championship team, which won the club's first title since 1978. ... CF Kevin Kiemaier returned to Tampa Bay's lineup after missing Friday's game with flu-like symptoms.