SAN FRANCISCO — No one has ever hit a ball into the giant glove across the left field stands at Oracle Park, and Aaron Judge would know that.
But the childhood Giants fan turned Yankees slugger went for it Saturday night.
Judge didn’t get that far, but he did hit a 464-foot, two-run homer in the top of the first inning that sparked another Yankees victory, a 7-3 win over the Giants on a chilly Gulf Coast night.
Before the night was over, Judge was intentionally walked during a Yankees rally, then he got on base again with an infield single late in the game to end the game.
Coming off a tumultuous May, Judge continued to perform well in the stadium he grew up in and in front of the fans who pained him when he decided to stay in pinstripes as a free agent.
With the win, the Yankees (41-19) clinched another series victory and have now won 15 of their first 19 series this season for just the sixth time in franchise history.
Judge’s 21st homer of the season came on the ninth pitch of his at-bat against Giants ace Logan Webb, the night before he hit two more to cap off a 14-home run month for the Giants.
He fouled off three consecutive pitches with the count at 3-2, then threw a changeup near the bottom of the zone.
The Yankees were holding a 4-3 lead going into the top of the eighth inning when Judge came back with two outs to give them some breathing room.
The big man hit an infield single, then Alex Verdugo smashed a triple into the right-center field wall to score.
Giancarlo Stanton then delivered the knockout punch, smashing a two-run homer down the left field line to give the Giants (29-30) a 7-3 lead.
Cody Poteet, promoted from Triple-A to replace the injured Clark Schmidt, pitched solidly for the Yankees.
Poteet played well for the most part, giving up just three runs (two earned) over five innings despite not pitching since May 19 after being placed on the disabled list with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre due to a blister.
He allowed just three hits (one of which was a two-run home run), walked one and struck out six.
After Judge pitched well early on, hitting nine of his 21 home runs this season in the first inning, the Yankees piled on the runs in the third inning and got the Barry Bonds treatment.
DJ LeMahieu led off the inning with a single, then Anthony Volpe doubled to left field, extending his career-high streak of consecutive games with an on-base hit to 28 (tying him with Judge).
Juan Soto scored LeMahieu with a sacrifice fly down the left field warning track to make it 3-0. Volpe advanced to third base.
Webb then threw two pitches to Judge, but the Giants elected to walk him intentionally.
Verdugo took advantage, singled to the open left side of the infield to extend the lead to 4-0.
After retiring the first six batters he faced, Poteat quickly paid the price by walking the leadoff hitter in the third inning, then Casey Schmidt came up next, driving a sinker inside for a two-run homer that cut the Yankees’ lead to 4-2.
But Poteat quickly recovered, striking out the next six batters before allowing an infield single to Heliot Ramos to lead off the top of the fifth.
Ramos advanced to second on a throwing error by Volpe that went over Anthony Rizzo’s head, then advanced to third on a flyout.
Brett Wiseley hit a liner off a diving Rizzo to advance Ramos and put the Giants within 4-3.
