The Yankees took a commanding 2-0 series lead over the Guardians in the ALCS on Tuesday thanks to a 6-2 win in Game 2. While the game included sloppy play on both sides, the highlight of the day came from biggest name in the series: New York slugger Aaron Judge.
With a man on and one out in the seventh inning, Judge crushed a fastball to right-center field and into Monument Park for his first home run of the postseason.
All Rise for Our Captain 🫡 pic.twitter.com/ZUZLldNegK
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 16, 2024
What makes the home run even more impressive is the context of the blast. Judge hit the homer off Cleveland’s Hunter Gaddis, who pitched to a 1.57 ERA in the regular season and allowed just four home runs to opposing batters all year. Additionally, the home run came on a chilly night of under 50 degrees in the Bronx, making it difficult for anyone to hit one out.
The slump-busting home run occurred after Judge hit three fly balls earlier in the game, which included a Guardians error on a pop-up to open the scoring in the first and a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0 in the second inning.
The @Yankees get on the board right away #ALCS pic.twitter.com/gEoMiuF8v6
— MLB (@MLB) October 15, 2024
An Aaron Judge sac fly increases the @Yankees lead #ALCS pic.twitter.com/Q0hF0QOjxh
— MLB (@MLB) October 16, 2024
Although none of those went for hits, the three similar swings provided a sign that Judge was close to breaking out of his homer-less postseason drought.
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Aaron Judge postseason stats
| Games | AVG | HR | RBI | H |
| 50 | .205 | 14 | 29 | 39 |
The home run was Judge’s first in the playoffs since Game 5 of the 2022 ALDS against the Guardians. The two-run blast broke a stretch of nine straight games without a homer.
For now, Judge passes teammate Giancarlo Stanton for fifth all-time on the Yankees’ postseason home run list, but that could change if Stanton continues his hot hitting as the ALCS continues.
Still, Judge’s average remains just above .200, which is a sign of how tough the postseason has been for him in recent memory. He has just three hits in six games this postseason, and just nine hits in just 16 playoff games dating back to 2022.
