It was utter pandemonium at Yankee Stadium after New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, who had entered play mired in the longest home run drought of his career, belted a go-ahead grand slam to power the club to a 5-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.
Judge, facing Red Sox relief pitcher Zack Kelly in the bottom of the seventh inning, took the first two pitches for balls before crushing the next offering, a 95-mph fastball right down the middle.
As the baseball took flight towards the left field seats and ultimately landed at its final destination, Yankees fans jumped up and down in the stands in pure elation as Yankees players excitedly high-fived each other and celebrated in the dugout.
Aaron Judge sends the Yankee Stadium crowd into a frenzy! pic.twitter.com/6Ll7ZEiTlD
— MLB (@MLB) September 14, 2024
Mood: pic.twitter.com/9ce9iX7uZt
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 14, 2024
The Yankee Stadium crowd then implored Judge to do a curtain call, and the Yankees captain obliged.
After the game, Judge commended the crowd, saying it was a "playoff atmosphere."
"Yeah tonight was rockin'," Judge said. "Especially after the seventh inning. At-bat after at-bat. Dugie [Alex Verdugo] getting it started for us, going down 0-2 quick and battling back to get on base.
"Kinda felt like a playoff atmosphere there in the seventh inning, we were kinda rallying so we've been waiting for that."
When told that his crowd-supercharging grand slam ended a 16-game home run drought, Judge briefly wore a look of surprise on his face before admitting he didn't know the streak was that long.
"Was it 16 games?" Judge asked. "I didn't really know that. 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. Sixteen games, is that a lot or was it not? I don't know."
When told it was the longest streak of his career, Judge quipped that he'll "definitely break that" record at another point in his career. Judge was all smiles during his press conference, and it's not difficult to see why.
The Yankees have won three straight games, two of which were walk-off victories, and now have a three-game lead over the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East and a two-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians for the best record in the American League.
New York will play host to Boston for two more games on Saturday and Sunday before embarking on a seven-game road trip to Seattle and Oakland.
More of the Latest Around MLB
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Aaron Judge Sent Yankees Crowd, Teammates Into Frenzy With Go-Ahead Grand Slam.
