Austin Wells understood the moment. The Yankees’ catcher and cleanup hitter used a timeout before his at-bat began, wanting the party that had sprung out in The Bronx to extend a few seconds longer.
Aaron Judge had just crushed a no-doubter of a grand slam that put the Yankees ahead; had just snapped a 16-game streak without a home run, which is normal for others and a drought worthy of a desert for Judge; had just inspired the announced crowd of 45,292 to empty their lungs, chant “MVP” and force the team’s captain out of the dugout for a curtain call.
A quiet game for the first six innings turned into one of the more electric of the year, turning on one Judge swing in a 5-4 win over the Red Sox on Friday night.
Judge’s 52nd homer of the season — and first since Aug. 25 — brought the Yankees (86-62) a third straight victory and a sixth in their past eight. The AL East lead is up to three games after the Orioles fell in Detroit.
The Yankees had been shut out by Richard Fitts — a former Yankees farmhand who had been sent to Boston in the Alex Verdugo trade this offseason — for five innings and lacked a pulse until the seventh.
Anthony Volpe and Verdugo walked against righty Zack Kelly before Gleyber Torres bounced an RBI single through the left side to close the gap to 4-1. Boston turned to lefty Cam Booser, who walked Juan Soto on four pitches to load the bases for the most dangerous hitter in baseball.
New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge hits a grand slam during the seventh inning of a baseball game at bat Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in New York.
Getting behind Judge 2-0 was not a good start. Grooving a down-the-middle fastball with the third pitch was a worse finish. Judge blasted a rocket of a grand slam, his second of the season, to quiet any concerns that had existed for an all-world superstar who had slumped for a few weeks.
Following two straight walk-off wins, the Yankees’ magic arrived a few innings earlier this time. The one-run lead was all the new-look back of the bullpen would need, with Luke Weaver dominant in recording the final six outs.
Judge’s swing was powerful enough to distract from the concerns that popped up earlier in the night.
Aaron Judge celebrates his huge grand slam for the Yankees.
Clarke Schmidt was excellent through five innings before encountering trouble, not all of his own doing, in the sixth.
Jarren Duran led off the inning with a chopper that was well placed between Anthony Rizzo and Torres. Rizzo hustled to cover first base, and Torres took one step toward the ball before giving up on the play. It was not clear if Torres had a chance at what became a single, but he certainly had no chance when he did not run into the hole.
The fourth hit against Schmidt gave Boston a chance it took advantage of. Three batters later, Masataka Yoshida blasted a two-run homer to right to end Schmidt’s night and shine a spotlight on another strange play from Torres.
Clarke Schmidt reacts during the Yankees’ win over the Red Sox on Sept. 13. 2024.
The struggling Mark Leiter Jr. replaced Schmidt and served up a two-run home run to Trevor Story in the top of the seventh, the sixth homer Leiter has allowed with the Yankees after surrendering just two with the Cubs this year.
Concerns about Torres and Leiter, though, were blasted away. Such is the power of Aaron Judge.
