The First Judgian Walk-Off Homer Since… WHEN??
For the first time since July 28, 2022, Aaron Judge hit a walk-off home run in what can easily be deemed the Yankees’ best win of the season. It was the perfect time for the Yankees’ captain to snap an 11-game home run and RBI drought as his team earned its first win, 2-0, against the division-leading Tampa Bay Rays.
It was just the Yankees’ second win against a team with a winning record. After yesterday’s game was postponed due to rain, the Yankees played through clouds and periodic showers, and their bats went silent through the first eight innings. They finished the game 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position and left three runners on base.
“The guys know how much of a grind the season is, and I know how much they were grinding all game today,” Judge said. “A lot of great at-bats up in that lineup. I know Drew [Rasmussen] on the other side was kind of holding us down a little bit, but I liked what I was seeing all game long. So, I think a lot of guys were just relieved were able to pull that one out.”
Rasmussen shut the Yankees out over seven innings, but in the first, Judge broke an 0-for-15 streak with a base hit. Rasmussen struck out six batters on four types of pitches, lowering his career ERA against the Yankees to 0.89. As a result, the game only lasted 132 minutes, the Yankees’ shortest contest of the season.
But Ryan Weathers matched Rasmussen with seven scoreless frames of his own. The power lefty got into some trouble in the third inning. Despite walking and picking off the leadoff batter, he permitted consecutive singles to Yandy Díaz and Jonathan Aranda before forcing Junior Caminero into a double play. Weathers then retired 12 of his next 14 batters, surrendering two walks.
“They had a couple of good opportunities against [Weathers],” said manager Aaron Boone. “I think it was a changeup he threw to Camanero to get the double-play ball. That’s the at-bat of the game right there, where you’re in trouble, and he just makes a really good, well-executed pitch, and we get out of that inning.
“There were a couple of times they challenged him, and he was able to make pitches. I thought his strike throwing was good for the most part all day. Stuff, as we talked about before the game, I feel like everything was in play a little bit, from the changeup and sweeper to the fastball.”
An impressive diving play by Trent Grisham in center field helped Weathers work a clean seventh inning. Out of the bullpen, Fernando Cruz and Tim Hill kept the bagel intact. In the eighth, the Rays challenged Cruz, who stranded a pair of baserunners with two strikeouts on Friday.
With a runner at second base, Tampa Bay nearly scored as Jonathan Aranda lifted a slider to right-center field. With the ball headed for no-man’s land between Judge and Grisham, the captain dove to the grass to make the grab. But the inning wasn’t over yet.
After missing with two pitches, Cruz intentionally walked Junior Caminero. Ryan Vilade worked a full count and struck a hanging splitter through the damp dirt to left field. As the Rays sent their pinch-runner, Oliver Dunn, around third base, Caminero sprinted to third, where Ryan McMahon tagged him out.
Tampa Bay reviewed the call, which confirmed the umpire’s ruling that Caminero got tagged before Dunn crossed home plate. Bellinger’s excellent play kept the game scoreless and thrust momentum in the Yankees’ favor.
“We’ve got a lot of respect for [Tampa Bay] and their formula this year of really good starting pitching, three key offensive pieces, and then a lot of guys that run and put the ball in play,” Boone said. “But I feel like we can win games like that, too. We outlasted them today because we kept them off the board and were able to finally scratch one.”
The Yankees couldn’t score in the eighth inning because Austin Wells grounded the second pitch he saw into an inning-ending double play. In the top of the ninth, Tim Hill struck out Chandler Simpson before walking Nick Fortes. Then, Paul Goldschmidt fielded a sacrifice bunt attempt at second base, so nobody scored on Cedric Mullins’s subsequent single.
Hill ended the inning by striking out Richie Palacios, who netted a go-ahead two-run single off him on Friday. “You know Timmy’s going to continue to fill up the strike zone and eventually work his way out of it,” Boone said.
Against the righty Kevin Kelly, Trent Grisham led off the ninth inning by flipping a 0-2 count to a walk. Realizing Kelly had lost control, Judge jumped on the first pitch he saw and blasted it over the right-center field fence. Kelly generates ground balls 61.3% of the time, but here, Judge elevated a sinker just enough.
In addition to breaking a 0-for-15 stretch in the first inning, Judge hadn’t homered or earned an RBI since May 10 — that’s 12 games ago, or 500 Judgian Years. Also, for someone who has hit 169 home runs since the start of the 2023 season, four years is a long time to go without a walk-off blast.
“The one thing that always stands out about Aaron is his emotional stability,” Boone said. “I’ve lived it now with him every day for nine years, and just to see who he is every single day, no matter what’s going on, it’s one of his real strengths.
“One of the things he understands that’s part of his game is ups and downs. Bad day, good day, you’ve got to approach it the same. And obviously, when you’re a player of his caliber, there’s an underlying confidence there that you’ve got to just get a few things sorted out, and results are going to follow.”
When Judge rolls, so do the Yankees, but when he slumps, it affects the entire team’s offense. This effect is magnified by Giancarlo Stanton’s absence, since he is also a large, powerful slugger. Hopefully, Judge has solved his timing issue and has gotten back on track.
Also, the significance of this win and the way it was earned should give the Yankees confidence and momentum entering their six-game road trip to Kansas City and Sacramento. Every win against a division opponent is crucial, especially one that has taken the league by storm.
The Rays are the American League’s best team, and the Yankees have cut the gap for first place to 4.5 games. Finally, their excellent starting pitching translated to their bullpen. Finally, somebody hit a walk-off home run, and this time, it came against a worthy opponent.
“When you’re going through it, and you go through a tough stretch and pull down an important victory in the division, those are always exciting,” Boone said. “There’s some relief that goes with that, too. But again, I’m feeling really good about this group and what we can do moving forward.”
Tomorrow, at 3:40 PM, RHP Will Warren (6-1, 3.61 ERA) will toe the slab for the Yankees against the Royals’ righty Michael Wacha (4-2, 2.70 ERA) in a nationally televised Memorial Day game in Kansas City (ESPN, ESPN App).
Cover Image Courtesy: New York Yankees
