For the first Yankees win in six games, Aaron Judge, as expected, played an important role.
Judge hit a two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning to extend their lead to 5-0 in their eventual 6-4 victory at Citi Field as Max Fried worked to keep the Mets offense at bay.
Judge blasted it on the first pitch for a career-high 11th time this season, sending an 83-mph changeup on the outside corner sailing 388 feet to left-center field.
It was his 33rd home run of the season, coming in the Yankees’ 90th game.
He hit 31 through the first 90 games when he broke the AL home run record in 2022.
Judge joins Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris as the only Yankees to hit 33 or more home runs in the first 90 games of a season.
However, the two-time MVP didn’t know it was going out right off the bat.
“I knew it was going to be a hit, I just didn’t know where it was going,” Judge said after the Yankees won the Subway Series finale on Sunday. “Cannot really sit there and think about what’s going to happen. Once you hit it, your job is to be a base runner and make the best read. I was happy it went over so we could add two more runs there. Yeah, just tried to put a good swing on it.”
Judge also delivered in a timely defensive play in the bottom of the sixth inning.
After the Mets added two more runs, Starling Marte was at the plate with two outs and the game-tying runner on third base and the Yankees leading 5-4.
Marte, who went 3-for-5 in the matinee game, roped a ball to right field in front of Judge, who hustled and dove to make the catch for the final out of the frame, keeping the Yankees ahead.
“That was another big play in the course of the game,” manager Aaron Boone said following the win. “It seemed like [they were] pressuring us there late from the time they scored in the fifth inning, more in the sixth, and then pressuring us. … But yeah, I mean, those are a handful of plays.”
Following his home run, the six-time All-Star also knocked in Paul Goldschmidt on a sacrifice fly to give the Yankees more wiggle room with a 6-4 lead in the seventh inning.
He ended the day with a home run and three RBIs, and just one strikeout in the ninth inning.
As the Yankees have gone through a 6-22 downward spiral prior to Sunday, Judge has remained optimistic and has been consistent at the plate. Across that 28-game span, he has hit .290 with a 1.093 OPS, 11 home runs and 21 RBIs.
