WASHINGTON – It’s one thing for Aaron Judge to swat more homers with more ease than anyone else in baseball. When he starts robbing homers, too, that might just be unfair.
Judge remained at 51 homers throughout Monday’s series opener in the nation’s capital, but that didn’t prevent him from making an enormous impact at the center-field wall anyway.
This one came with his glove, as Judge leapt to take away what would have been a game-tying homer
by Andrés Chaparro in the fourth inning of New York’s 5-2 win over the Nationals.
“I was pretty pumped up about that one,” Judge said.
Judge also collected career hit No. 1,000, Gleyber Torres, Austin Wells and Jazz Chisholm Jr. all homered,
and Nestor Cortes logged 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball as the Yankees maintained the AL’s top record by rattling off another win in the ballpark Juan Soto once called home. The victory stretched New York’s lead atop the American League East to two games over the Orioles, their largest since June 26.
Soto was the topic of conversation all afternoon ahead of his third series (seventh total game) back at Nationals Park since he was traded from Washington to San Diego in an enormous blockbuster at the 2022 Trade Deadline, and his first game as a Yankee in the nation’s capital. Soto went hitless with a walk. Judge also drew a walk before connecting for his 1,000th career hit, a single to the opposite field in the ninth.
Judge is the 42nd player in Yankees history to reach that milestone, and the first since Brett Gardner did in 2017.
“I called [the robbery] his 52nd homer of the year,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s really good at this stuff. A night they keep him in the ballpark, he takes one back from the other side. It’s just a little reminder of how many other things he does well.”
Before the game, Soto reflected on his time in the nation’s capital and his first year in pinstripes ahead of his upcoming free agency. He was also asked what makes Judge so special, what separates him from other players.
“He’s 6-7,” Soto deadpanned. “He’s a great player. Every day he comes to the field to work hard and put everything that he needs to in to get ready for the game. His work ethic is one of the best I’ve ever seen so far, and he shows it off every day.”
Chaparro learned that the hard way Monday night, when the rookie dropped the barrel on a 1-2 fastball from Cortes, striking it at 99.4 mph, a 27 degree launch angle and a projected 389 feet. That should be enough to sneak a ball over the left-center-field wall at Nationals Park, along a stretch of wall just past the visitors’ bullpen.
“As soon as I hit it, I thought I had hit it well enough, and thought it was going to go over,” Chaparro said through interpreter Octavio Martinez. “Very, very surprised, because I thought it was going to be a home run. As soon as he caught it, I was like, ‘Wow. That was a good catch.’”
Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo, who made his own impressive play at the wall earlier in the inning, had the best view of Judge’s robbery. He also came away thoroughly impressed.
“I was running with him and I didn’t think there was going to be a chance,” Verdugo said. “But he’s so big, and he got to the wall great.”
When the 6-foot-7 Judge is patrolling center, there is always a chance. Judge arrived at the wall in stride and reached over to pluck Chaparro’s fly ball, then made an accurate throw to cutoff man Torres to begin an inning-ending 8-4-3 double play.
After the game, his teammates could still hardly believe their eyes.
“When he jumped and caught it I was almost taken aback a little bit, like ‘Holy cow!’ That was crazy,” Wells said. “It’s great to have a guy out there who can climb the walls and catch balls that might be going out. It’s just another plus to a guy who does it all, so it’s really special to watch out there.”
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Source: USA Today
