NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge hit a fly to right field, briefly watched the ball go over the wall and dropped his bat at first base before starting his trot.
Judge’s long home run drought was over, and there was a celebration waiting for him at the plate.
Judge ended a career-high, 11-game slump without an RBI. hitting a two-run homer off Kevin Kelly in the ninth inning that lifted the New York Yankees over the Tampa Bay Rays 2-0 Sunday for their first
win in five games this year against their AL East rival.
“That’s just a great swing from him,” manager Aaron Boone said.
Judge hit his first homer and drove in his first runs since going deep in the first inning off Logan Henderson in Milwaukee on May 10. In between homers, Judge had gone 8 for 43 and the Yankees lost seven of 11 games.
“There’s no frustration, I got a job to do,” Judge said. “Obviously I want to get the job done and help the team win and we weren’t winning, so I was mad about that. But no homers, RBIs, you can find other ways to help your team win. So that’s what I was trying to do."
Judge’s 363-foot drive into the wind would have been a home run in just three major league ballparks: Citizens Bank Park and Great American Ball Park are the others. It was his fourth walk-off homer and first since 2022 when he hit three game-ending homers and 62 overall, one more than Roger Maris' previous AL season record.
“It really feels like a matter of time,” Bellinger said. “This game is so difficult. He’s literally one of the best hitters of all-time, so it was just a short little period.”
Judge homered three days after saying “I'm not doing nothing at the plate.” ” to describe a 1-for-24 slide that dropped his average to .246. He ended Friday’s 4-2 loss with a 396-foot flyout to left fielder Chandler Simpson.
In a 1-for-24 slide and hitless in 15 at-bats, he singled in the first inning Sunday before getting doubled off on Ben Rice's flyout.
“He’s been putting good swings on balls,” New York starter Ryan Weathers said. "He’s just been having bad luck lately and that was a pretty impressive homer to get it out in these conditions.”
Judge’s drive moved the Yankees within 4 1/2 games of the Rays in the AL East.
New York left fielder Cody Bellinger made a key defensive play with two outs in the eighth.
With pinch runner Oliver Dunn at second and Junior Caminero at first, Ryan Vilade singled to left. Bellinger made a one-hop throw to get a sliding Caminero at third as Ryan McMahon applied the tag before Dunn crossed the plate.
“I was trying to go to third so there wouldn’t be a play at home, and credit to Cody for going to third base and getting the out,” Caminero said through an interpreter.
It was Bellinger’s third outfield assist this season and his seventh in 175 games in left field.
“I picked my head up and Mac had a huge target at third,” Bellinger said. “I actually threw I thought a pretty nasty sinker to him and he picked it, did a great job of picking it and putting the tag on.”
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