On a vibrant Friday night at Yankee Stadium, Aaron Judge silenced doubters with a performance that was nothing short of superhuman, fittingly on his Superman bobblehead night. Despite the New York Yankees’ 5-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Judge’s three-hit resurgence, including his 27th home run of the season, stole the show and offered a glimmer of hope for a team struggling through a rough patch.
Judge, the pinstriped captain, had been mired in a 3-for-27 slump, with his batting average dipping from .396 on June 10 to .366 entering this three-game series against Baltimore. His recent struggles included a staggering 20 strikeouts over his previous 10 games. But on this night, the two-time MVP showed signs of rediscovering his form, delivering a performance that had manager Aaron Boone optimistic about a turnaround.
“I liked his at-bats tonight,” Boone said post-game. “I thought he made a little adjustment with his hands. Sometimes you are just a little late, get into a spot and get into that really strong position to where now you’re getting your good swing off, where you’re through the zone a lot. So it looked to me like a little adjustment with his hands. And I thought he put a lot of good swings tonight.”
Judge’s night began with a single to center in the first inning, helping the Yankees match Baltimore’s two runs in the top half against starter Max Fried. He then led off the third with a towering opposite-field homer to right on a 2-2 fastball from Orioles starter Tomoyuki Sugano, marking his first home run since a ninth-inning blast against Boston’s Garrett Crochet the previous Friday at Fenway Park. The homer, his 27th of the season, reaffirmed Judge’s dominance over the Orioles, against whom he has hit a staggering 48 homers in 111 career games—the most by any MLB player against any opponent since his 2016 debut.
“I’m making adjustments every day. There’s so many that I can’t really narrow one,” Judge said, brushing off questions about his Superman bobblehead, which he claimed he still hadn’t seen. “They have a great pitching staff, so it’s about being ready, especially in that at-bat. I took a couple of heaters that I could’ve done some damage on. … So I was really trying to lock it in and trying to make something happen there.”
The Orioles, wary of Judge’s power, intentionally walked him with first base open and two outs in the fourth. Judge later added a two-out single to left in the sixth, though the Yankees couldn’t capitalize in either inning. His night ended with a strikeout against Baltimore’s flame-throwing closer Félix Bautista in a scoreless ninth, as the Yankees fell for the seventh time in eight games.
“He’s a tough at-bat,” Judge said of Bautista, whose 100-mph fastball and devastating splitter proved too much. “It’s not a fun at-bat, but that’s who you want to face when the game’s on the line. You want to go up against the best…. He got us tonight, but I think we’ll definitely see him again [this weekend].”
Despite the loss, Judge’s performance was a beacon of hope for Yankees fans. His ability to make in-game adjustments and deliver against a formidable Orioles pitching staff suggests the captain is ready to lead his team out of their recent skid. With two more games against Baltimore this weekend, all eyes will be on No. 99 to see if he can continue his blockbuster return and carry the Yankees back to winning ways.