NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge claimed to have no idea how long his homerless streak lasted.
He certainly picked the perfect time to end it, though.
Judge snapped the longest home run drought of his career with a go-ahead grand slam that powered the New York Yankees past the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Friday night.
The slugger had gone 16 games and 75 plate appearances without a longball before launching a clutch drive into the lower left-field seats off reliever Cam Booser in the seventh inning to give the Yankees a 5-4 advantage. The victory increased their AL East lead to three games over Baltimore with 14 to play.
“Was it 16 games? I didn’t really know that,” Judge said afterward in the clubhouse. “It’s just another day. I really don’t focus on hitting homers. I don’t focus on any of that. I’ve got a job to do.”
Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt wasn’t buying all that.
“He’s very aware of stuff like that, I think,” a smiling Schmidt said with a chuckle. “I don’t know about that. You guys can decide for yourself.”
Judge’s eighth career slam and second this season sent the Yankee Stadium crowd of 45,292 — and jubilant players in the New York dugout — into a jumping, dancing frenzy. The 6-foot-7 outfielder popped out of the dugout for a curtain call.
It was an MVP moment for one of baseball’s biggest superstars, who is trying to salt away his second AL MVP award in three years.
“I was in the training room but, I mean, I was going crazy. Anybody who was in the general vicinity of the training room definitely heard me. I don’t think there was anybody who wasn’t going crazy on this side, even in the stands,” Schmidt said. “Words can’t describe how cool that was. Such a special moment.”
It was the 52nd homer of the season for Judge, who also leads the majors with 130 RBIs. He hadn’t gone deep since Aug. 25, when he homered twice against Colorado.
Judge hit nine homers in 10 games before the drought.
The 2022 AL MVP set a career worst when his homerless streak reached 16 games Thursday night against Boston.
“Sixteen games, I guess, is that a lot? Is it not? I don’t know,” Judge said. “It’s the most? It’ll probably be longer at some point in my career. So, I’ll definitely break that.”
