SAN DIEGO — Who’s hotter: Aaron Judge or the Yankees starting rotation?
Judge may indeed regain his composure or return to normal at some point, and the Yankees’ starting pitcher may even give up a run or three at some point.
However, until further notice, they both remain giant balls of red flame.
Judge has been on a roll for nearly a month now, hitting a home run in four straight games, while Marcus Stroman became the fourth consecutive starter to pitch a shutout game, leading the Yankees to their fourth straight win, 4-1, against the Padres at Petco Park.
“It’s just a great thing to watch,” said Stroman, who pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and one walk. “Honestly, sometimes it seems like a given, but I’m going to sit down with my grandkids one day and tell them I got a chance to play with Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Gerrit Cole. I think those are the three best guys to ever play the game.”
The Yankees (37-17) often get ahead when Judge is in form, so it’s no surprise they’ve rallied during their captain’s hot spell, winning for the 17th time in their last 21 games on Saturday in front of a sellout crowd of 44,845.
Judge added a double and scored in the fourth inning.
He has racked up 12 doubles and 11 home runs in just his last 20 games, becoming the first player to accomplish the feat since at least 1901.
“This season is my season,” Alex Verdugo said, deadpan, then burst out laughing, “but he’s really special. … He’s a special animal, and when he touches the ball, it bounces in a totally different way than any other player.”
In his last 27 games, Judge is batting .391 (36-for-92) with a 1.458 OPS, 12 doubles and 13 home runs.
And of his 17 hits in his last 11 games, 15 have been extra base hits, including eight doubles and seven home runs.
“What Aaron’s doing is what great players do sometimes,” coach Aaron Boone said.
Saturday marked the third time in Judge’s career that he has homered in four consecutive games.
His last home run came in September 2022, en route to hitting 62 home runs.
He is tied for the major league lead with 17 home runs this season.
Of course, the Yankees are also backed by a great starting pitching staff, and they are doing well against the Padres (27-28).
Stroman, Carlos Rodon, Lewis Hill and Nestor Cortes have combined to pitch 23 ¹/₃ scoreless innings over the past four games.
“I feel like our guys are motivating each other and trying to get the next guy out,” Judge said. “As an offensive player, it’s inspiring to see that and know, ‘If we can get a couple of runs early and make him comfortable, he’s going to have an easy time continuing to play.’ Our starters are doing a great job.”
Stroman’s streak of allowing two or fewer runs over five or more innings was the Yankees’ 13th consecutive game, bringing him within one of the longest streak since 1893.
During that span, Yankees starters posted a 0.78 ERA in 80 2/3 innings.
“I think the other starting pitchers have been great,” Stroman said. “There’s a flow of energy. Each guy passes the ball to the next guy and everyone expects great things from each other. We’re missing Cole, the best pitcher in baseball, and we’re all anxious to get him back. So it’s been fun.”
The Padres didn’t score until Fernando Tatis Jr. struck out Luke Weaver with a long hit in the eighth inning, ending the Yankees’ scoreless streak at 26 1/3 innings.
But Clay Holmes pitched a shutout ninth inning to earn his 15th save.
Anthony Volpe, batting first up on the night, hit a line drive to center field to extend his career-high hitting streak to 18 games, the longest by a Yankee since Derek Jeter’s 19-game hitting streak in 2012.
Volpe set up Judge’s 429-foot home run as the Yankees turned to Dylan Cease to give Stroman the offensive boost he needed.
