View the original article to see embedded media.
Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge added to his MVP-caliber season by blasting a three-run, walk-off homer to lift New York to a 6–3 victory over Houston in the series finale Sunday.
With runners on first and third in the bottom of the 10th inning, Judge crushed an 0–1 slider over the fence in left-center field. As soon as the ball left his bat, the home crowd at Yankee Stadium burst into pandemonium, knowing that the team had just won its MLB-best 53rd game of the season.
Sunday’s result was no sure thing for the Yankees, who carried over yesterday’s woes at the plate into the series finale. After the Astros combined for a no-hitter in Saturday’s 3–0 win, Houston starter Jose Urquidy blanked New York through the first six innings. Yankees right fielder Giancarlo Stanton finally broke through the malaise with a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, but only after the team’s 16 consecutive hitless innings matched the longest such skid in MLB since the expansion era began in 1961, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
However, once the bats of the Bronx Bombers started to heat up, they didn’t stop. D.J. LeMahieu hit a two-run homer to tie the game up 3–3 in the bottom of the eighth, setting the table for Judge to end things in extra innings.
Sunday’s heroics were just the latest from the 30-year-old outfielder this season. The home run was Judge’s MLB-leading 28th of 2022. His efforts have powered the Yankees to an 11-game lead in the AL East and a 53–20 record.
