Judge slugs 44th HR as Yankees move back into 1st place

DETROIT -- When one pitch is all it takes to flip a game on its head, who better to drive home that point than Aaron Judge?

The Yankees had collected just four hits when their captain stepped to the plate in the eighth inning and connected on his 44th home run of the season. He made this one look just as easy as most of the rest, parking the 2-2 sinker a Statcast-projected 431 feet away into the ivy-covered wall in straightaway center field during New York’s 3-0 win against the Tigers in the series opener at Comerica Park.

Judge, who on Wednesday reached the 300-homer plateau faster than any player in AL/NL history, sits just 18 home runs shy of the AL-record 62 he set in 2022, with 39 games to play in the regular season.

“[The Tigers] did a good job against him tonight,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Really kept him off-base and kept it off the barrel. And then he does that, hits one 420 to center and gives us a little more breathing room. It's been remarkable to watch.”

What is remarkable to the Yankees’ dugout gives their opponents fits as teams work to keep Judge under control, or at least in the ballpark. Detroit catcher Jake Rogers and his staff succeeded for the most part, working to hold Judge hitless through his first three at-bats.

But with a hitter like Judge, all it takes is one pitch, and he found it in the eighth from reliever Brant Hurter.

"He's a great hitter,” Rogers said. “It was a dumb pitch. As soon as I called [sinker in], I was like, 'Man, this is ballsy.' It's one of those where they're going to praise me or hate me for a couple days. I came in and went directly to [Hurter] and went ‘Sorry,’ because it was a mistake. Props to Judge."

Judge’s blast capped what Boone labeled a “clean, solid game” all-around for New York, which won its third straight contest and its sixth of 10 to claim control of first place in the American League East after the Orioles lost to the Red Sox.

Oswald Peraza, who was recalled on Wednesday from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, also homered off Hurter in his season debut. Alex Verdugo got the offense started with a sacrifice fly in the first inning that marked his 53rd RBI of the season.

Gerrit Cole wasn’t cushioned with a big lead, but he didn’t need one, either. Cole put together another sparkling outing with eight strikeouts over six scoreless innings. He allowed just four hits, all singles, and walked two to move to 4-2 on the season and lower his ERA in August to 2.45 across three starts.

“[Cole] was impressive,” Judge said. “I think even from the first inning, his fastball command was there, his velo was kicking up and I feel like his slider and curveball [have] been really strong these past two outings. That was impressive to see. When he’s looking like that … I want him to go all nine innings.”

Cole, who made his third turn in the rotation since skipping a start with fatigue and a stomach bug, said he felt physically fine through his 95-pitch outing and had a “nice cruising speed.”

Having Jose Trevino as his batterymate again in Trevino’s return from the IL didn’t hurt either, Cole added.

“It's a blessing to be a pitcher on the Yankees; I tell you that,” Cole said. “[Carlos] Narvaez came up and did an excellent job when Trevi was down, [Austin] Wells has been anchoring that position for us for the last few months, and obviously, Trevi is a Platinum Glove winner. So, we're kind of spoiled.”

Luke Weaver, Tommy Kahnle and Clay Holmes each threw a scoreless frame after Cole to complete the shutout, as the bullpen bounced back from a difficult stretch as well. The Yankees’ relief corps entered Friday with the sixth-worst ERA (4.49) since May 20.

“Everybody has ups and downs,” Cole said. “It's a blessing to expect them to come in and be really, really nails every single time. And tonight was definitely that.”

New York moved to 4-0 on the season against Detroit.