Judge’s blast sparks Yankees

Seattle — The consensus was that any projections on the latest mammoth shot off the bat of Aaron Judge far underestimated the actual distance.

An approximation of 440 feet did seem a little off when the ball nearly left the stadium. "A little short," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Judge hit a colossal three-run homer that nearly soared out of Safeco Field, and CC Sabathia won on his 37th birthday as New York beat the Seattle Mariners 5-1 on Friday night.

Judge's 31st home run in the fifth inning was memorable and nearly historic. The big slugger clobbered a hanging curveball from starter Andrew Moore (1-2) into the second deck in left field, with the ball landing three rows from the top of the stadium. No one has hit one out of Safeco during a game since the ballpark opened midway through the 1999 season.

Judge came close and continued to emerge from a post-All-Star break slump thanks to his first home run since July 7. He finished with four RBIs, including a sacrifice fly that gave New York a 2-1 lead.

"I was just glad to be in that position," Judge said. "Guys were getting on base all night for me and in that situation I was trying to get something up in the air and score the run."

Judge downplayed any reaction to the long ball, but his teammates were more than willing to take up the cause of where the homer ranked among the longest they've seen. MLB Statcast could not get an accurate read on the distance, leaving the Mariners staff to estimate a 440-foot shot based off previous home runs near that area.

But few balls at Safeco Field have ever come as close to leaving the place.

"I think every time it's a different reaction. You think people would get bored seeing him hit a ball that far, but he surprises everybody every time he goes out there and hits a ball in a spot where no one else can," Yankees rookie outfielder Clint Frazier said.