Judge’s 60th homer sparks ninth run five, Yanks stun Pirates – TSN.ca

NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Richter sent a sinker into the left stand, another of his undoubted drives, and circled bases for the 60th time.

Humbled during a march down history that now puts him on par with Babe Ruth, Judge then took a moment far more rare than one of his long balls — a curtain call.

“I really didn’t want to do it, especially, we’re losing, it’s a solo shot,” he said, recalling how his first homer in the ninth inning reduced the Yankees’ lead to just three runs.

Eleven minutes later, Judge and the Yankees felt free to let go.

Gian Carlo Stanton followed Judge’s drive with a game-ending grand slam, ending New York’s stunning five-run, ninth-inning rally to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-8 on Tuesday night.

“I kind of lost my mind,” said Judge, a homer still shy of matching Roger Maris’ American League season record. “It’s a signature Gian Carlo Stanton 10 ft. laser to outfield. I had a good seat in the front row for that. I think the whole team lost their minds and the stadium erupted.”

Judge homed out on a 3-1 pitch Wil Crowe (5-10) to equate Ruth’s 1927 total, which was considered a big league record until Maris broke it 34 years later.

Judge got to 60 in Game 147 — no debate over the length of the season, like what surrounded Maris’ pursuit to the point where his hair was falling out. Judge is on track for the AL’s first Triple Crown in a decade, leading in home runs, RBIs (128) and batting average (.316).

No one else in the majors has 40+ home runs.

“To be so far ahead of the field,” marveled Yankees manager Aaron Boone, “it’s hard for me to grasp.”

The judge dropped his bat near the plate — he never turns around — and when he finished his trot after his 430-foot run, he traded a high-five with Anthony Rizzoa hug with Gleyber Torres and claps along Josh Donaldson. The judge paced the dugout to receive congratulations, then emerged from the dugout steps and very briefly tipped his helmet at the fans.

“I was kind of joking Matt Carpenter Earlier in the year, I think he hit two homers in a game or something and he got a curtain,” Judge said. “Man, I’ve been here six years and I only have one curtain. So I guess you have to hit 60 to get another one.”

Rizzo doubled, Torres walked, and Donaldson singled to load bases. Stanton, stuck in a 9-for-72 slump, sent a half-dozen row change into left field pitches, capping a 19-pitch sequence long to be repeated and sparking a loud celebration the remains of the crowd from 40,157. The ride, Stanton’s record-breaking third game-ending slam, was billed by MLB as 118 mph.

“I think they need to recalculate the 118. It felt more like 130,” Boone said.

Roger Maris Jr. and Kevin Maris, sons of the former player, were both on site. Stanton noted Judge’s reserved manner.

“He hit 60 tonight and it’s like nothing happened. He’s got work to do,” said Stanton, who turned 59 for Miami five years ago.

Crowe’s great-granduncle, Hall of Famer Red Ruffing, was Ruth’s teammate in the 1930s with the Yankees. Crowe visited Ruffing’s plaque in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium before the game.

“He did what he was supposed to do with it,” Crowe said of Judge, “Count 3-1, I’m not going to put him on. I felt like I wanted to go after him. Launched away, came back. He made a good swing on a bad pitch.”

Aroldis Chapman (3-3) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth place as the Yankees maintained a 5 1/2 game lead AL East over Toronto.

Bryan Reynolds had leveled it 4-4 with a solo homer in the seventh inning from Lou Trivino and then hit for his fourth hit with a go-ahead single from Jonathan Loáisiga in the eighth.

Rodolfo Castro – the player who was suspended from a game by Major League Baseball last month after having a smartphone thrown out of his pocket during a headfirst slide – followed up with a homer in three runs against Clay Holmes.

Harrison Bader had a few go-ahead singles and drove in three heats on his debut for the Yankees.

Once Judge hits No. 61, the only ones with more in a season will have been Barry Bonds (73), Mark McGwire (70 and 65) and Sammy Sosa (66, 64, 63), achievements all tainted from 1998-2001 the era of steroids.

The judge’s performance is without blemish.

“I think it takes it up a notch,” Boone said. “I have to believe it’s right there with some of the best, very short lists of all time.”

STRIKE

Donaldson hit a late-game slam on August 17 that defeated Tampa Bay 8-7 in 10 innings. The Yankees joined the 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates (Danny Kravitz and Roberto Clemente) as the only teams to hit multiple walk-off slams as they passed three runs. Clemente’s was in the park.

OOPS

Pittsburgh made two errors and leads the major leagues with 108.

FAMILY MATTERS

Former Yankees 3B Charlie Hayes, who won the 1996 World Series Finals, threw a ceremonial first pitch to his son Pirates 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes.

UP

Pittsburgh promoted six players to Triple-A Indianapolis after the season ended at Double-A Altoona: RHPs Quinn Priester and Colin Selby, 2B-C-OF Endy Rodriguez, INF Aaron Shackelford, 3B Malcom Nunez and OF Matt Gorski. “Now we have another 10 days of bats to get,” manager Derek Shelton said. “Loss in 2020 was so important for organizations like ours. The more reps we can get, the better it is.”

TRAINING ROOM

Yankees: RHP Frankie Montas received a second cortisone injection in his ailing right shoulder and went on the 15-day IL retroactive to Saturday. … LHP Zack Britton (Tommy John Operation) scored a one-hit inning for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in his eighth rehab game. RHP Miguel Castro (strained shoulder) threw a hitless inning for the RailRiders.

NEXT

New York RHP Luis Severino (5-3, 3.45 ERA) starts Wednesday after recovering from a lat strain that has sidelined him since July 13. RHP Roansy Contreras (5-4, 3.24) plays for the Pirates.

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