Moved from leadoff, Judge hits 1st HR of postseason

CLEVELAND -- Aaron Judge circled the bases for the 63rd time this year, enjoying his first home run of the postseason after setting a new American League single-season record with 62 deep drives. The Yankees' slugger saw results after moving out of the leadoff spot for the first time in more than a month, and now he hopes to keep his season going past Sunday.

Batting in the No. 2 spot in the lineup, Judge belted a game-tying two-run homer in the third inning off Triston McKenzie on Saturday at Progressive Field, one of three long balls the Yankees hit in a 6-5 loss to the Guardians in Game 3 of the American League Division Series.

“I was just trying to do my job there with a guy on base, drive him in. Luckily I was able to tie up the game,” Judge said. “Up and down this lineup, guys have been fouling off tough pitches and working the count. I was just happy to get there and tie the game up.”

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The homer was a 449-foot blast, per Statcast, the longest of Judge's 12 career postseason home runs. Judge finished the evening 1-for-4.

“The next at-bat is the most important one, so I try to focus on that and we’ll just take that into tomorrow,” Judge said.

Judge, who was hitless and had struck out eight times through his first nine at-bats of the postseason, was moved down from the leadoff spot, with second baseman Gleyber Torres taking over atop the order.

“I just kind of woke up on it,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Let me do that to not have all the focus on the first at-bat of the game [so Judge can] settle in. I feel like we’re a little more whole than we were even 10 days ago, so I just feel like it’s more doable now.”

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Judge had batted leadoff in 25 consecutive games (including postseason) dating to Sept. 9; Boone has explained that Judge hitting in the top spot would give their best player more opportunities to bat, but it was also a reaction to having Andrew Benintendi and DJ LeMahieu unavailable due to injuries.

“Without DJ and without Benny, we don’t really have the ideal leadoff hitter, other than Judge,” Boone said.

Former Yankees star Alex Rodriguez, now an analyst for FOX, was among the voices clamoring to see Judge move out of the leadoff spot. On the air Friday, Rodriguez referred to the lineup construction as “gimmicky baseball.”

“You cannot [have] your best player, your best hitter, hitting first,” Rodriguez said on Friday. “Babe Ruth didn’t do it. Barry Bonds didn’t do it. Frank [Thomas] didn’t do it. [David Ortiz] didn’t do it. I didn’t do it. It doesn’t exist. The reason why is you want to protect [Judge]. Like, you play chess, it’s like the queen on the chess board. You want to put the best two hitters in front, and the best two hitters behind, and protect. The Yankees are putting the worst two hitters, the eighth and ninth hitter, and it puts an enormous amount of pressure [on Judge].”

Boone said that he had not heard Rodriguez’s comments before changing the lineup. The manager then joked: “Well, if A-Rod says it.”

The leadoff spot was Judge’s home down the stretch as he chased Roger Maris’ single-season American League home run record, slugging his record-setting 62nd home run on Oct. 3 at Texas.

From Sept. 9 through the end of the regular season, Judge slashed .364/.519/.701 with five doubles, seven homers and 13 RBIs in 23 games. Through the first two games of the ALDS, Judge was 0-for-8 with a walk, a run scored, a stolen base and seven strikeouts.

"It comes down to timing,” Judge said after Game 2. “If your timing is a little off, you’re going to be swinging at pitches you don’t normally swing at, the ones you can’t hit. You’re just a tick late or a tick off a little bit. Work on that timing and I think we’ll be good to go.”

Most of Judge’s at-bats this season came in the No. 2 spot; he started 112 games there, logging 506 plate appearances and slashing .294/.406/.680 with 47 homers. He started 34 games as a leadoff hitter, slashing .366/.481/.740 with 13 homers. Judge also started seven games in the No. 3 slot, where he slashed .360/.467/.600 with two homers.

Boone said that he typically would reach out to Judge about changing his spot in the lineup, but he did not do so before Game 3.

“I knew he’d be fine with it,” Boone said.