The Yankees’ infield defense let down Marcus Stroman, who was merely OK through five innings. The Yankees’ bats did not cash in on a few opportunities, including loading the bases with one out in the fifth inning and coming away with nothing.
Mistakes and slumps, though, can be camouflaged by power — and particularly by the best player in the sport authoring one of the greatest seasons ever seen.
Aaron Judge smoked his 50th and 51st home runs of the season — on a day the Yankees clubbed five — in an eventual 10-3 dismantling of the Rockies on a gorgeous and loud Sunday in The Bronx, where 41,324 watched a varsity player continue to feast on freshmen.
On yet another day for history, Judge jump-started the Yankees’ scoring by blasting his 18th first-inning home run — matching Alex Rodriguez (in 2001) for the major league record — and became the fifth player to reach 50 in a season three times. Sammy Sosa, Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire and Rodriguez had been the only major leaguers with at least three seasons in which they hit at least 50 homers. Judge has now done so in 2017, 2022 and 2024.
It wasn’t Judge but Juan Soto who jump-started the seventh inning, when Judge’s Robin to his Batman sent a 418-foot bomb to right-center to cushion what had been a one-run edge. Jeff Criswell’s next pitch was a fastball to Judge, who redirected it 371 feet to right-center for his second of the day. Three pitches later, a Giancarlo Stanton missile made it back-to-back-to-back, and made the Stadium a nice venue for a party that intensified as the afternoon went on. Gleyber Torres’ three-run shot in the eighth provided yet another jolt.
Judge is in the middle of the revelry. Through 131 Yankees games, the all-time slugger is on pace for 63 homers, which would break the club and league record that he set two seasons ago. Roger Maris Jr. might have to clear his September calendar.
The Yankees’ season — a solid one, to be sure — suddenly almost feels like an afterthought. The 77-54 group continued rolling, having won or split nine of their 12 past completed series and taken 17 of their past 26 games overall, and remained in first place in the AL East.
But Judge’s campaign looms nearly as large as the stakes of the most famous baseball team in the world. The center fielder bounced back from a rare homer-less Saturday and has smoked six home runs in his past six games, eight in his past 10 and nine in his past 13.
The Yankees have needed just about all of them.
Against the Rockies (48-83), Aaron Boone’s group had misplayed its way into a first-inning hole. Two errors by Jazz Chisholm Jr. and a double play that was not executed — Torres’ throw to first pulling DJ LeMahieu off the bag — helped Colorado score in the first and forced Stroman to throw 31 pitches in the frame.
But then Judge went to work, jumping on an 0-2 Austin Gomber changeup and clobbering it 431 feet to left-center to give the Yankees a lead they would not surrender.
Led by Judge, the Yankees’ best players came to play: Their first five hitters combined to go 8-for-19 with five home runs and three walks.
Stroman let up three runs in five innings before Tommy Kahnle, Jake Cousins, Luke Weaver and Tim Mayza stitched together four scoreless frames.
