Aaron Judge hits grand slam to end home run drought

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge claimed he didn’t know about his career-long homer drought, which had sparked conversation in the grandstands and social media. With a sly grin, the Yankees’ captain said he hadn’t even realized 16 games had passed since his last time clearing the fences. His teammates knew better.

“Judge is very aware of stuff like that. It’s hard to ignore it,” said Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt. “It feels like if he has two games in a row where he doesn’t get a homer, something’s going on.”

Judge reclaimed his stroke at a perfect time, launching a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning off left-hander Cam Booser for his Major League-leading 52nd homer. The blast powered the Yankees to a 5-4 victory over the Red Sox on Friday evening at Yankee Stadium.

“I really don’t focus on hitting homers,” Judge said. “I don’t focus on any of that. Sixteen games, is that a lot or not? I don’t know. It’ll probably be longer at some point in my career.”

Schmidt wasn’t buying the performance: “Ahh, I don’t know about that. You guys can decide for yourself.”

So let’s agree on this: With consecutive walk-offs and a timely grand slam behind three straight victories, something special may be happening in the Bronx. The Yanks are now three games up on the Orioles in the American League East, their largest division lead since June 14.

“Jazz [Chisholm Jr.] came up to me after Judge hit the homer,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Just to see our dugout erupt, to see Yankee Stadium erupt, he was like, ‘This is pretty sick.’ That was one of those really cool regular-season moments you get at Yankee Stadium.”

Judge had not homered since Aug. 25 against the Rockies, when he belted two and finished the day exceeding his pace from 2022, when Judge set the AL single-season mark with 62. He seemed red-hot, having homered nine times in the previous 10 contests.

Over the 16 games that followed, Judge slashed just .207/.352/.259 (12-for-58) with three doubles and four RBIs. Judge had gone 75 plate appearances without a homer, also a career most. The Yankees did not panic, believing it was only a matter of time.

“He’s going to go through this again in another few weeks, at some point next year, whatever, and he’ll be fine,” Boone said. “That’s who he is. He’s as good as I’ve ever seen at dealing with all that is the season. He doesn’t get on the roller-coaster ride. He’s obviously incredibly confident. I don’t worry about him at all.”

The key moment came in the seventh, after Zack Kelly opened the inning with two walks and permitted a Gleyber Torres run-scoring single. Booser walked Juan Soto on four pitches, bringing up Judge, who was greeted by loud chants of “M-V-P!” from a crowd of 45,952.

“It felt pretty turned up, as the kids like to say,” Boone said.

Booser fell behind with two balls before challenging Judge with a 95.5 mph fastball, which Judge barreled into the lower left-field seats for a Statcast-projected 369-foot blast.

“We ran into a corner with the best hitter in the American League,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “He did what he’s been doing the whole season.”

The crowd summoned Judge for a curtain call after the slam, which gave him 130 RBIs, one shy of his career high of 131 set during his 2022 AL MVP campaign. As for now, consider the drought over.

“I think it’s really just trying to cut the season into small sample sizes,” Judge said. “So you don’t look at it as a whole, or look at it as your past 16 games or your past eight games. It’s just, ‘What do I have to do today?’ And go out there and do it.”

When Judge strode to the plate in the seventh inning, Boone said he’d been conversing with bench coach Brad Ausmus and pitching coach Matt Blake, attempting to form a pitching blueprint.

Should the Yankees tie the game or take the lead, they decided, Luke Weaver would get ready. Judge’s drive had scarcely landed and Weaver was getting hot in the bullpen. He struck out the side in the eighth around a single before coming back out to seek a six-out save.

Boone was short on pitchers, but he didn’t intend to push Weaver that far, preparing to go to left-hander Tim Hill if the game got past Ceddanne Rafaela, who was due up third in the ninth. Weaver settled it, striking out the No. 9 hitter to seal a 1-2-3 ninth and his second career save.

“He’s been outstanding,” Boone said of Weaver. “I’m comfortable with him in any situation.”