BOSTON -- In recent weeks, the Yankees have hardly resembled the first-half juggernaut that steamrolled the opposition on a nightly basis, but Aaron Judge has done everything he can to strap the club across his broad shoulders.
Arguably the most dangerous hitter on the planet right now, Judge delivered again in Friday’s 3-2, 10-inning loss to the Red Sox, clearing Fenway Park’s Green Monster with his Major League-leading 46th home run while collecting his 100th RBI of the season in style.
New York led, 2-0, after Judge’s third-inning homer off Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi. The Yanks have lost eight of their last nine games, and 14 of 21 since the All-Star break.
“You can go around this whole room, I think every guy could speak up and say they need to pick it up a little bit, including myself,” Judge said. “If we lean on each other, start picking each other up and have each others’ backs, we’re going to be in a good spot down the stretch.”
Judge’s third-inning blast came off the slugger’s bat at 113.8 mph and traveled 429 feet, according to Statcast, coming to rest somewhere on Lansdowne Street. Eovaldi stretched his hands outward as he tracked the ball’s flight, second-guessing his decision not to pitch Judge away.
“We were trying to go up and in right there -- it’s just, he’s on fire right now,” Eovaldi said. “He’s locked in at the plate. I felt like I located that pitch. It was 93 [mph], which if I had a little more velo behind it, maybe it sinks by him. … You just tip your cap to him. He’s having an outstanding year.”
Judge remains ahead of Roger Maris’ 1961 pace for the single-season American League (and Yankees) home run record, currently on pace to finish the year with 66 homers. With 46 homers through 113 team games, only Barry Bonds (48 homers in 2001) has ever hit more.
It’s also statistically notable to see Judge reaching the century mark in RBIs so early in the campaign.
Having played in his 109th game of the season, Judge is the fastest player to reach 100 RBIs since the Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera did it in 103 games in 2013, a season in which Cabrera won the American League’s MVP Award.
The last Yankee to reach 100 RBIs in fewer than 109 games was Alex Rodríguez, doing so in his 2007 AL MVP season.
Judge is the fifth Yankee to record 45 or more homers and 100 or more RBIs in multiple seasons, a feat he also achieved in 2017. Only Babe Ruth (nine times), Lou Gehrig (four times), Mickey Mantle (two times) and A-Rod (two times) have done so.
His focus, however, remains on the postseason chase.
“We’re in first place, that’s where we want to be,” Judge said. “But you never want to peak too early. All these games, all these situations, big moments on the road -- it’s just getting us ready for games down the stretch and in the postseason where we’ll be playing games like this against tough opponents. So we’re not where we want to be, but I think that’s a good thing. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”