Aaron Judge hit home run No. 60 and helped spark a ninth-inning rally to lead the Yankees to a 9-8 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates
It was Judge’s lead-off home run in the bottom of the ninth that turned the tide after the Yankees had fallen behind by four in the top of the eighth inning. Anthony Rizzo followed it up with a double, Gleyber Torres walked and Josh Donaldson singled allowing Giancarlo Stanton to play the hero.
GIANCARLO STANTON WALKS IT OFF!!!!!
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The Yankees’ other power hitter then sent a line shot over the fence in left field to complete the five-run comeback on a night all eyes were on Judge. There had been a noticeable buzz inside Yankee Stadium with Aaron Judge chasing Roger Maris’ 1961 single-season record of 61 homers.
“We’re down there and up against it. So for Judge to roll up there and hit 60 I think got the guys going,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. It was just really good at-bat after good at-bat by Rizzo. Gleyber working the walk. JD just punching one the other way and then I took a peek up there to see, cause I’ve seen a lot of hard ones off of (Stanton). I think they need to recalculate the 118, that felt more like 130. That ball was absolutely clobbered.”
Judge’s home run came in the bottom of the ninth inning and pulled him even with Babe Ruth’s 1927 single-season home run mark. The 60 home runs also tied Judge for the second most home runs all-time in American League history.
Judge’s chase for the home run record drew over 40,000 fans to the Bronx on Tuesday night.
ALL RISE!
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“It’s tough to say cause like I said I don’t think about it,” Judge said when asked what 60 home runs meant to him. “I don’t think about the numbers. When you talk about Ruth and Maris and (Mickey) Mantle and these Yankee greats, that did so many great things in this game you never imagined as a kid getting mentioned with them. It’s an incredible honor and something I don’t take lightly at all. But we’re not done, we’ve still got a couple of games left in this season and hopefully a couple more wins come with it.”
The Yankees were able to get the milestone ball back for Judge after it was caught by a group of four young fans. Each received a signed ball and the one that caught it also was given a bat and got the chance to meet Judge in the clubhouse.
A four-run eighth inning looked as though it had derailed New York’s night as they opened a six-game homestand in the Bronx. Bryan Reynolds broke a 4-4 tie when he hit a groundball to center that scored the runner on third and that set up Rodolfo Castro to hit a three-run bomb to right field to put the Pirates up by four.
The Yankees had managed to keep the Pirates limited in their scoring chances with Nestor Cortes on the mound. The starter went 5.0 innings and allowed just one run on five hits while striking out four. Ron Marinaccio, Lou Trivino, Jonathan Loáisiga, Clay Holmes and Aroldis all came into the game in relief and surrendered a combined seven runs on five hits.
Harrison Bader made his Yankee debut with a bang, getting hits and three RBIs in the stadium that he had come to growing up in nearby Bronxville. Bader had been acquired by the Yankees at the trade deadline, but had been sidelined with plantar fasciitis in his right foot.
Cortes found himself in jam in the top of the fourth inning after getting the first batter of the inning to fly out. The Yankees starter gave up back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second and then walked Oneil Cruz after taking an 0-2 lead in the coun to load the bases.
One run did score when Greg Allen hit a long ball to left field, but Oswaldo Cabrera made a leaping catch. Diego Castillo was able to score from third on the play, but it was the only run that Cortes would surrender in the fourth.
New York answered back the following inning scoring two runs of their own to take the lead. Cabrera hit a leadoff triple to deep right field that dropped because of an error by the center fielder and Bader singled into left on the next at-bat to drive in the tying run.
Two batters later Jose Trevino singled to center that allowed Bader to score from second base to put the Yankees ahead 2-1.
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Pittsburgh managed to get two of their first three batters on base in the sixth inning, which allowed Jason Delay to drive in two runs on a two-out double to center. The RBI put the Pirates back in front 3-2.
However, the Yankees weren’t done just yet and managed to regain the lead in the bottom half of the sixth off an RBI single by Bader to score Josh Donaldson and Cabrera. The Pirates evened the game at four when Reynolds hit a solo shot in the seventh.
