Judge, Soto rehearse new HR handshake, then put it to use

BALTIMORE -- It was during the early afternoon hours on Saturday that Aaron Judge and Juan Soto test drove a handshake, running through the motions of their home-run celebration within the clubhouse walls. The Yankees’ captain nodded toward his teammate and remarked: “We’re going to do this a couple of times today.”

The superstars followed through on that promise, with Judge authoring more long ball history to help the Yankees to their first series victory in a month. Behind Judge’s Major League-leading 34th homer, New York moved into a virtual tie with the Orioles atop the American League East with a 6-1 victory at Camden Yards.

“Just having a little bit of fun,” Judge said. “When he’s locked in like that and seeing so many good pitches, it’s fun to hit behind him and see what he does. It’s just impressive at-bat after at-bat.”

The Yankees hadn’t won a series since June 10-13 at Kansas City, faring 0-7-1 over that span. Saturday marked the club’s first time winning consecutive games since that Royals series.

Soto and Judge put the Bombers up big, clearing the center-field wall with back-to-back fifth-inning homers off right-hander Grayson Rodriguez. Soto lined a changeup a Statcast-projected 426 feet, and Judge unloaded on a trademark 431-foot blast “to the moon that just keeps on going,” as manager Aaron Boone described it.

“It’s always great to see that,” Soto said. “We just literally were talking about it this morning. … We were talking about our handshake. We were trying to do it a couple of times today.”

Judge circled the bases as the first Yankee to hit 34 home runs before an All-Star break. Roger Maris (33 in 1961) and Judge (33 in 2022) previously shared the club mark for home runs before the break.

“Hopefully, those 34 homers came in a lot of wins,” Judge said. “That’s what it’s all about. I don’t really try to focus on personal stats. It’s just about trying to get wins.”

Judge is on pace for 57 homers. Boone said that 34 homers at the break would have been “nice, but very believable,” and catcher Austin Wells -- who hit a three-run homer in the first inning Saturday -- claimed to have predicted Judge would reach the break with exactly 34 homers and 85 RBIs.

“That was my guess for what he would have, the last time we were here [in late April],” Wells said. “That is unbelievable, really. Getting to be in the dugout and watching him do that, I can’t put it into words. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Judge’s 34 homers are tied for seventh most in Major League history before an All-Star break, trailing Barry Bonds (39 in 2001), Chris Davis (37 in 2013), Reggie Jackson (37 in 1969), Mark McGwire (37 in 1998), Luis González (35 in 2001) and Ken Griffey Jr. (35 in 1998). Frank Howard also had 34 in 1969.

Boasting one of Judge’s favorite hitting backdrops, Camden Yards has remained a friendly environment for the slugger, who has hardly been contained by the club’s decision to move the left-field fence back several years ago -- a move made, in part, to neutralize dangerous right-handed hitters like himself.

Saturday’s homer was Judge’s 42nd against the Orioles, his most against any opponent. He has also hit 24 home runs in 55 games at Camden Yards, including 10 in his past 17 games (since May 17, 2022). It marked the second time this season that the Yankees have hit back-to-back home runs; Soto and Judge also connected for consecutive blasts on May 24 at San Diego.

“We needed this to get back on track,” Soto said.

New York put up four first-inning runs to support right-hander Luis Gil, who picked up his team-leading 10th victory with six innings of one-run ball.

“I’m very happy about the way the season has gone,” Gil said through an interpreter. “To be here, healthy and get the opportunity to go out there and compete, I’m extremely happy.”

Gil held the O’s to five hits and one walk in a seven-strikeout performance. He showcased his improved slider, a difference-maker since he tweaked his grip to gain movement while maintaining velocity. Wells said the offering is now a third plus pitch for Gil.

“He’s been a huge factor for us,” Judge said. “Especially early on when we didn’t have our ace Gerrit Cole with us, having a guy like him step up and make the team out of camp was impressive. That’s what you love to see. You’ve got to have guys like that step up if you want to have a deep run into the season.”