Judge hits one out of Fenway as Yanks rally for much-needed win
This browser does not support the video element.
BOSTON -- For the second straight night, Aaron Judge absolutely obliterated a baseball at Fenway Park, sending a first-inning solo shot -- his 37th of the season -- over everything in left field and onto Landsdowne Street.
The first-inning spark set the tone for a wild one between the division rivals, as the Yankees scored a run apiece in the eighth and ninth innings to tie the game before winning it, 11-8, in 10 innings, snapping a three-game losing streak in the process.
On Friday night, the Yankees’ slugger hit one of the most impressive shots of the year, a Statcast-projected 470-foot blast to the deepest part of center field at the Red Sox’s home ballpark. Saturday night’s shot went sailing over the Green Monster and was swatted a projected 432 feet. Per Statcast, the ball was hit with an exit velocity of 110.6 mph.
Taking the second pitch he saw out of the ballpark, Judge gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead as he followed a Juan Soto two-run blast into the Red Sox’s bullpen. It was the fifth time this season that the Yankees have gone back to back, the third by Soto and Judge.
This browser does not support the video element.
It was also the fifth home run in the past 11 games for Judge, who leads all of baseball with his 37 dingers this season. He drove in another run in the fifth inning with a one-out single that tied the game at 5-5.
The Yankees coughed up their early three-run lead almost immediately, and the clubs battled back-and-forth, combining to smack six home runs in the game.
Judge finished 4-for-4 with two walks, three RBIs (giving him a Majors-high 95 this season) and three runs scored as he raised his batting average to .314, third best in the American League. It was the first time in his career that he reached base six times in a game.
Judge nearly tied the game in the top of the eighth inning when he ripped a double off the wall in left field, but after Alex Verdugo scored from second, Soto ran through the stop sign at third base and was thrown out at home.