Hicks' splitter no mystery to Judge, Yankees

SAN FRANCISCO -- When Aaron Judge took the field at Oracle Park for the first time on Friday night, it was about everything the Giants could have imagined when they pursued him in free agency during the 2022-23 offseason. Except, of course, he was wearing the wrong uniform.

The Giants got an up-close look at what might have been when Judge proved his power could play at Oracle Park, launching two home runs as his Yankees cruised to a 6-2 win in the series opener.

Both of Judge's homers -- a three-run blast in the third and a solo shot in the sixth -- were hit off starter Jordan Hicks, who hit his biggest stumble this season by giving up five runs (four earned) on eight hits. It was his first time allowing more than three earned runs in 12 starts with San Francisco.

"You catch a top-three hitter in the game with his best month of his career, probably," Hicks said of Judge. "I’ve got to tip my cap.”

Hicks had allowed only four home runs in 11 starts prior to Friday, but a trend is beginning to emerge. In his first eight appearances of the season, Hicks only surrendered one long ball; he's now given up a homer in four consecutive outings.

"He just had quite a run without giving up balls hit hard in the air," manager Bob Melvin said. "I don't read anything into it."

Even more unusual? The first home run was the first Hicks had allowed on his splitter all season.

Entering Friday, opponents were batting just 4-for-52 (.077) and slugging .115 against Hicks' splitter. The hits that fell -- two singles, two doubles -- had an average exit velocity of 84.5 mph.

Judge, however, absolutely crushed a splitter from Hicks for his first home run of the game in the third inning. After Hicks got ahead 1-2, Judge battled to a full count and took him deep on the eighth pitch of the at-bat. It went out to left field at 104.4 mph off the bat, and at a projected 394 feet, it would have left the yard in every ballpark except Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

The two batters who were on base for Judge's homer -- Anthony Volpe and Juan Soto -- both notched singles on splitters as well.

"The whole team took my splitter really well," Hicks said. "They took really good ones, and then they hit the ones that were in the zone. … It's for me to really go back and look and see if I was giving anything away, because I hadn't had those kinds of takes and I hadn't had that kind of contact."

Judge's other home run off Hicks came on a 3-1 sinker and was even more of a no-doubter, traveling a projected 426 feet to straightaway center with a 112.3 mph exit velocity.

Other than the two big swings from Judge, Hicks mostly stood by his performance. The main thing he would have done differently, he said, was prevent Judge from getting into three-ball counts.

"He’s just too good of a hitter to be that comfortable, you know what I mean?" Hicks said. "He can kind of be a lot more selective in those moments. And then with that power, when he hits the ball, I know it’s gone. There’s some guys, they hit it and it’s like, might be right at the wall. But it’s just a different sound.”

Hicks has been among the Giants' most consistent starters this season, but the team dropped to 6-6 in his starts, having scored three runs or fewer in five of the six losses. On Hicks' rare off night, Yankees starter Marcus Stroman proved a tough customer on the other side, holding the Giants to two runs on six hits across 7 1/3 strong innings.

"He was locating really well, mixing well with different pitches, hitting the spots," said first baseman Trenton Brooks, who notched his first career hit with a single in the third inning and scored his first run in the sixth. "We've all seen, he's been a really good competitor for a long time, so hats off to him."