Back in session: Judge blasts 1st HR of 2024 in wild win

PHOENIX -- In almost every circumstance, it would have been a no-brainer to intentionally walk Aaron Judge.

It was the top of the 11th and the Yankees had just taken a one-run lead. Judge stepped to the plate with one out and a runner on second. But instead of issuing him a free pass to first in order to set up a potential double play, D-backs manager Torey Lovullo decided to let one of the most fearsome batters in the game take a whack.

Lovullo immediately regretted it.

Judge hit the second pitch he saw from Arizona reliever Scott McGough, a center-cut 93 mph fastball, sending it off the bat at 108.8 mph and into the right-center-field gap for a lead-extending double. It proved to be the decisive RBI, with the Yankees surviving a bottom-of-the-inning rally to claim a 6-5 victory over the D-backs on Wednesday afternoon at Chase Field that will send New York back to the Bronx with a 6-1 record.

After the game, Lovullo said he was “kicking myself” for pitching to Judge. But don’t count the 6-foot-7 slugger among the chorus of critics, and not just because it worked out in Judge’s favor. Judge entered the game with just a .214 on-base percentage and a .167 slugging percentage. He’d have pitched to him, too.

“I feel like I’m hitting .100 right now, so I think it was the right choice,” Judge said. “I haven’t been swinging the way I want to. It worked out this time for us.”

Well, he hadn’t been swinging it that way before Wednesday’s game. It certainly wasn’t true after.

Judge struck out his first time up against Arizona starter Merrill Kelly, but the next time up, Judge walloped the second pitch of the at-bat for a go-ahead two-run homer. It was Judge’s first bomb of the year.

The pitch Judge hit out was a sinker that did eventually sink -- only it was into the Chase Field pool in right-center.

“‘I told him I wanted him to go visit the pool at some point this road trip,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “So I’m glad he checked that box.”

By homering in the club's seventh game, Judge avoided matching the longest homerless drought of his career to start a season. Basically, he was due. That’s been the opinion of Boone, who has suggested for several days that Judge was nearing a breakout.

Judge may not have been so bold to claim the same, but he also knows that six games is hardly anything worthy of panic.

“It’s early in the season and you can get caught up as a player looking at the scoreboard and seeing where your average is," Judge said. "You see guys up there hitting .600 and you get discouraged, but it's part of the season. You’re going to get 600 at-bats.”

The bangs from Judge’s gavel weren’t the only positive signs for a New York offense that, to this point, had been carried by three players: Juan Soto, Oswaldo Cabrera and Anthony Volpe. Gleyber Torres roped two leadoff singles to kickstart rallies. Anthony Rizzo had a pair of knocks. And no one had a bigger at-bat than outfielder Alex Verdugo.

Verdugo entered the game batting .143 before going 0-for-3 in his first three trips to the plate. He wasted little time correcting that in his fourth at-bat. Leading off the 10th inning, Verdugo unloaded on the first pitch he saw from Arizona postseason hero Kevin Ginkel, depositing it in the right-field seats for his first homer as a Yankee -- and then taking some time to admire it as he rounded the bases.

That was the first blow of two eventful extra innings that included a go-ahead balk and the D-backs' decision to pitch to Judge. Boone wouldn't make that same mistake in the bottom half of the 11th.

The game ended in bizarre fashion, with Boone choosing to intentionally walk D-backs catcher Gabriel Moreno to load the bases with two outs and the Yanks leading by one. The move set up a matchup with McGough, who was forced to hit because the D-backs had lost the designated hitter when starting DH Ketel Marte was forced to play the field for injured shortstop Geraldo Perdomo in the top of the 11th.

With Arizona out of bench players, McGough struck out looking to end the game.

There’s a moral in there somewhere. Pitch to the opposing pitcher? Yes. Pitch to Aaron Judge? The odds are against you if you do.

“With Aaron,” Boone said, “it’s a matter of time.”