Bronx, NY— Centerfielder Aaron Judge snapped the longest home run drought of his career with a game-changing grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning, leading the New York Yankees to a 5-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.
Judge, who hadn’t homered in 16 games and 75 plate appearances, crushed a pivotal home run into the left-field seats off reliever Cam Booser (2-3), turning a 4-1 deficit into a 5-4 lead. The victory marked the Yankees’ third consecutive win, extending their AL East lead to three games over Baltimore, which was held hitless in a 1-0 loss to Detroit.
“I hope no one’s looking at the standings,” Judge commented. “I’m definitely not.”
The struggling Red Sox (74-74) are now 4 1/2 games behind Minnesota for the final wild-card spot in the American League.
Mark Leiter Jr. (4-5) earned the win in relief, pitching 1 1/3 innings, while Luke Weaver closed out the game with two scoreless innings, striking out five to secure his second career save.
“Everyone’s doing their part,” said Judge. “We just have to keep it going.”
Judge’s grand slam, his eighth career and second of the season, sent the Yankee Stadium crowd of 45,292 into a frenzy. The 6-foot-7 captain even made a curtain call, soaking in the electric atmosphere.
“Tonight felt like a playoff game, especially in that seventh inning,” Judge said. “We’ve been waiting for a moment like that.”
The home run was Judge’s 52nd of the season, bringing his league-leading RBI total to 130. His last home run came on August 25, and his 16-game drought was the longest of his career.
Boston’s emergency starter Richard Fitts filled in admirably after Tanner Houck was scratched shortly before the game due to shoulder fatigue. Fitts threw five scoreless innings, but the Red Sox bullpen couldn’t hold on.
Cam Booser took full responsibility for the loss: “This one’s on me. I didn’t do my job.”
Boston’s offense came alive in the sixth inning, with Masataka Yoshida hitting a two-run homer to break the scoreless tie. Trevor Story added a two-run shot in the seventh, his first of the season, giving the Red Sox a 4-0 lead. However, the Yankees responded in the bottom half of the inning, beginning with Gleyber Torres’ RBI single, followed by Judge’s grand slam.
“It’s a tough loss, no doubt,” Story said. “These kinds of things happen in baseball.”
The Yankees’ Clarke Schmidt, making his second start since returning from injury, expressed how special the game felt: “It was like everything clicked. That moment felt perfect, like the whole team was part of it.”
UP NEXT:
The Red Sox will send Brayan Bello (13-7, 4.70 ERA) to the mound against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole (6-4, 3.36 ERA) on Saturday.
