Judge (2 HRs) rises on historic list as Yanks topple Jays
TORONTO -- The Yankees crunched the numbers ahead of their first visit of the season to Rogers Centre, deciding that an opener would provide their best chance of neutralizing the Blue Jays¡¯ potent lineup. The plan worked perfectly.
Jimmy Cordero and Jhony Brito combined to stifle Toronto¡¯s bats and Aaron Judge enjoyed his 30th career multihomer game as the Yanks opened their seven-game road trip with a 7-4 victory on Monday night.
¡°This is where we need to step up, especially against the best teams in the American League East,¡± Judge said. ¡°Getting this first one against the Blue Jays is big time, but we¡¯ve got another couple of tough games ahead of us.¡±
Returning to the scene of his 61st home run from Sept. 28 last season, which equaled Roger Maris¡¯ single-season AL home run record, Judge seemed to pick up right where he left off.
The slugger hit a first-inning homer off Alek Manoah, then took Jay Jackson deep in the eighth -- a 462-foot blast to center field that immediately followed the ejection of Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who had argued balls and strikes with home-plate umpire Clint Vondrak.
¡°Honestly, it¡¯s probably just a normal day for him,¡± said Willie Calhoun, who hit a two-run homer in the first. ¡°But for a lot of other people, that¡¯d be one of the farthest homers of their careers.¡±
Boone had already arrived in the visitors' clubhouse as Judge connected, and the manager said that he ¡°let out a pretty good scream¡± as the ball cleared the wall.
¡°That was good,¡± Boone said, ¡°to see him really stick one like that.¡±
The at-bat would be thoroughly examined, and not simply for the homer, which rocketed off Judge¡¯s at-bat at an exit velocity of 114.9 mph. On the Blue Jays' broadcast, Sportsnet announcers Dan Shulman and Buck Martinez wondered aloud why Judge¡¯s eyes seemed to dart to the right before a pitch was delivered.
Judge¡¯s explanation was that there had been too much ¡°chirping¡± continuing from the visitors' dugout after Boone¡¯s ejection.
¡°I said a couple of things when I was in the dugout, and especially after the game,¡± Judge said. ¡°Hopefully it won¡¯t happen again.¡±
With the homer, Judge¡¯s 10th of the year, he surpassed Alex Rodriguez (29) for the fifth-most multihomer games in a Yankees uniform. Only Babe Ruth (68), Mickey Mantle (46), Lou Gehrig (43) and Joe DiMaggio (35) produced more such games in franchise history.
¡°Tonight, we did a good job getting something we could drive and putting a good swing on it to do damage,¡± Judge said.
New York flipped the script on what appeared to be a pitching mismatch, seeing Cordero and Brito cruise while thumping Manoah for five runs off six hits and seven walks over four-plus innings.
¡°Any time you can score early, it¡¯s always a good thing,¡± Boone said. ¡°We added on pretty well, and I felt like all night, we had chances to add on even more. A really good plan by the guys, and they went out and executed it.¡±
While Manoah served up first-inning blasts to Judge and Calhoun, Cordero took nicely to the opener role, retiring all six batters he faced.
¡°For Jimmy to set us up and go through those first six hitters, mostly tough right-handed hitters, was huge,¡± Boone said. ¡°He put us in a good spot for Jhony, who came in and threw the ball really well.¡±
Said Cordero: ¡°It was a good experience for me. Yeah, for sure, 100 percent, I would do it again.¡±
Brito pitched five scoreless innings before Toronto finally broke through for four runs (one earned) in the eighth, a frame that featured a Gleyber Torres error.
¡°When the coaches spoke to me, they informed me that they had an idea they were thinking of doing,¡± Brito said through an interpreter. ¡°After every start, I¡¯ve been working very hard on improving my strength and understanding how to get better. Tonight, I was able to put together a lot of good things.¡±