MINNEAPOLIS — In recent weeks, as Aaron Judge has started to emerge after a slow start to the season, the consensus around the Yankees has been that he’s not set in stone yet.
The Yankees captain hasn’t admitted it yet, but his recent at-bats suggest otherwise, and Wednesday provided the latest evidence.
Judge hit a 467-foot moonshot at Target Field, his 11th home run of the season, and added three doubles and a walk to lead the Yankees to a 4-0 victory over the Twins.
“We’re getting there, we’re getting there,” Judge said with a smile after going 4-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. “We’re not there yet. Hopefully we can get there when we’re talking in November.”
Marcus Stroman pitched six shutout innings against the Twins (24-18), helping the Yankees (29-15) to their cause with their ninth win in their last 11 games.
It also earned them their 11th series win in 14 chances.
It’s been less than two weeks since manager Aaron Boone was asked again about Judge’s quiet start, but the Yankees manager continued to preach patience.
Mr. Boone argued that someone would end up paying a “hefty price” and the judge said he would “move forward with the plan and wait and see when that happens.”
It didn’t take Nostradamus to accurately predict that, but as Boone suggested, opposing pitchers are feeling the pain right now, especially after blowing up Twins right-hander Pablo Lopez in the majors.
“He’s hit that ball from me before. It doesn’t feel good,” said Stroman, who hit a 496-foot home run in 2017, the longest of Judge’s career. But he’s special and now he’s locked up. …a huge momentum shifter. ”
Judge is currently batting .383 (23 hits in 60 at bats) with a 1.350 OPS and seven home runs in his past 17 games.
During that span, he improved his batting average from .178 to .255 and his OPS from .674 to .926.
“I mean, Aaron Judge,” Boone said. “Okay, enough for the rough start.”
The biggest game of the season for Judge, who spearheaded the Yankees’ 13-hit attack, started with the first pitch he saw. In the first inning, Lopez threw a 95 mph fastball up the middle, and Judge pounced on it, driving it deep into the third row of left field seats.
“I felt like he was a little too big for the park,” Boone said. “He put on a great show today.”
The 467-foot throw was the third-longest in the majors this season, behind Judge’s 473 feet against the Astros last week and Mike Trout’s 473 feet.
“You don’t feel it,” the judge said. “When you put it on the barrel like this, you’re locked in and when the time is up, you don’t even feel it. When you play against Pablo López, it’s going to be a dogfight, a fight, so I was happy to score early. . We got some runs early and made it easy for Stroman there.”
After Anthony Volpe’s sacrifice fly made it 2-0 in the second inning, Judge fought back in the third inning, hitting a double that hit the right-center field wall.
Two singles by Alex Verdugo and Giancarlo Stanton (both multi-hit in the game) led to a 3-0 Yankees lead.
Judge’s double to left center field in the fifth inning missed, but the Yankees’ lead increased in the seventh inning.
After Juan Soto hit a double into the right field wall, Judge lasered over center fielder Willi Castro’s head for an RBI double to make it 4-0.
That was enough support for Strowman, who submitted what Boone described as a “slutty” outing.
He had to go six innings, but allowed only six baserunners (two hits, three walks, one error) and one strikeout.
He started and finished well, with only one clean sheet and six innings.
Judge took care of the rest, continuing his red-hot stretch, which he claims is down to one simple factor.
“It’s been that way all year. We’re just in touch,” the judge said. “That’s the only difference.”
