The New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays were deadlocked at 0-0 in the 13th inning of a pitcher’s duel that featured starters Sonny Gray (Yankees) and Sam Gaviglio (Blue Jays), until Aaron Judge decided to do something about the collective offensive drought.
On a 1-2 pitch from Toronto reliever Joe Biagini, Judge redirected a ball 402 feet to score Brett Gardner and put the Yankees up 2-0. The bomb was Judge’s 17th homer of the season, and it left the slugger’s bat bat at 102.7 miles per hour, per Statcast.
Here’s a look at the homer:
AARON JUDGE WITH THE BIG FLY!@Yankees take a 2-0 lead in the 13th!#YANKSonYES LIVE stream:https://t.co/6Z36xeadsL pic.twitter.com/j36j8LUV9L
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) June 7, 2018
The Athletic’s Katie Sharp notes that the home run was the first extra inning hit of Judge’s young career, and ESPN Stats & Info revealed that the hit snapped an 0-for-15 dry spell.
After Greg Bird flied out following Judge’s homer, Giancarlo Stanton hit his 14th homer of the season. It traveled 414 feet and had an exit velocity of 119.3 miles per hour. Stanton is now the owner of the hardest hit homer in baseball this season following that laser.
Aroldis Chapman then came onto save the game for the Yankees, giving the Yankees their 40th win on the year, and for Chapman it was his 15th save of the year.
Judge is now batting .274/.401/.566 on the season with those 17 homers and 43 runs batted in.
Photo: Mike Stobe/Getty Images
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