JUDGE PARDONS
Aaron Judge narrowly missed robbing Yoenis Cespedes of a home run on Monday night.
The Yankees’ 25-year-old rookie slugger more than made up for it later in the game — blasting a homer of his own.
Judge hit a game-tying solo shot leading off the sixth inning, and the Bombers ultimately beat the Mets 4-2 in their Subway Series opener at Yankee Stadium.
“I’m seeing the ball well. I’ve just got to keep swinging at the right pitches,” Judge said after connecting for his 36th homer of the year. “They’ve been pitching me tough on the corners, and when I get a pitch over the plate, I just can’t miss it.”
Judge’s struggles in the second half of the season have been well-documented, though he says they haven’t weighed on him. “It’s about the process,” Judge said. “If I feel good and I’m swinging at the right pitches, I’m happy with things.”
Judge entered Monday’s game with a .663 OPS post-AllStar break after delivering a 1.139 OPS in the first half of the 2017 campaign. He has now struck out in 31 straight games — one shy of Adam Dunn’s all-time record for a position player (32 in 2012). Still, Judge homered to the opposite field, a sign that he’s taking the right approach.
“It tells you that mechanically he’s more sound,” Joe Girardi said. “When we look at him, yeah, he’s pulled some home runs, but we’ve seen a number of them in right and center. He’s made some adjustments and he’s feeling more comfortable in the box.”
“It’s better balance, it’s being on time,” the manager said. “There are a whole lot of things — especially with a guy that’s 6-foot-7.”
In the third, Judge made a valiant leap at the wall but was unable to haul in Cespedes’ solo shot that gave the Mets a 1-0 lead.
“It hit off the thumb of my glove. I had a pretty good shot at it,” Judge said. “I wish I would’ve made that play. It would’ve been nice.”
The Yankees also got solo homers from Aaron Hicks