Judge lays down the law against Toronto pitching
NEW YORK — Surrounded by reporters after another eye-popping performance at the plate, Aaron Judge thought for a few seconds when asked if he had ever been hitting this hot.
“Maybe in t-ball,” he said, widening his smile.
The 6-foot-7 rookie sensation blasted another long drive for his major leagueleading 13 th home run, sing led to start the go-ahead rally and had the first three-hit game of his big league career, helping the New York Yankees rally from a four-run deficit to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-6 on Wednesday night.
“Judge has been out of this world,” Yankees third baseman Chase Headley said, with only a bit of hyperbole.
Matt Holliday hit his 300th home run, a three-run shot in the first, and Brett Gardner helped spark his teammates by destroying a blue recycling bin in the dugout with four mighty cuts of his bat after he was called out on strikes in the sixth.
“They’ll probably fine me 20 bucks, and we’ll get a new one the next home stand,” Gardner said.
“It felt good. It was a plastic trash can, so I was able to handle it pretty well. Better that than the cement wall.”
Capping a 4-2 home stand that left the Yankees atop the AL East at 17-9, pinch-hitter Didi Gregorius drove in the go-ahead run in a three-run seventh with a comebacker that could have been an inning-ending double play but instead bounced off the glove of reliever Joe Biagini (0-1) for an infield single.
Steve Pearce’s third homer in two days , a three-run shot, helped Toronto take a 4-0 lead against CC Sabathia after 16 pitches.
The Blue Jays led 6-3 before Judge’s two-run homer in the third, a 435-foot drive into the netting above Monument Park behind the center-field wall.
Selected the AL Rookie of the Month for April, Judge raised his average to .330 and has six homers in his last six games. He also has hit the second-most home runs through 26 games in Yankees history, one behind Alex Rodriguez in 2007.
New York is 11-0 when Judge homers. The right fielder, who turned 25 last week, tries to deflect attention toward his teammates.
“The good thing about him is you can tell from his demeanor and his attitude that he wants to improve, he wants to be better and he handles himself the right way, not only on the field but off the field,” former Yankees captain Derek Jeter said on the team’s website. “So I’m a fan of his.”
Jeter’s remarks moved Judge.
“It’s incredible, especially from a guy I looked up to for years growing up, to hear him say that,” he said. “It’s humbling.”
Judge sparked the seventhinning burst with a one-out single on a 1-2 offspeed pitch from Biagini, who had struck out his first five batters.
Judge took third on Headley’s double and scored the tying run on Chris Carter’s broken-bat single to short left over a drawn-in infield.
Tyler Clippard, Dellin Betances (3-1) and Aroldis Chapman combined to retire Toronto’s last 11 batters, and Chapman got three outs to remain perfect in six save chances.
Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman left after three innings because of tightness in his right armpit. He allowed five runs and six hits in his shortest start since the Chicago White Sox chased him after two outs on Aug 15, 2014.
Sabathia gave up six runs, seven hits and four walks in four-plus innings.
His ERA has risen from 2.25 to 5.45 in his last three outings.