MLB

Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees

· Major League Baseball
Boston Red Sox
74-74, 39-34 Away
Final
4 - 5
New York Yankees
86-62, 41-32 Home

Judge halts longest HR drought of career with go-ahead grand slam to lift Yankees over Red Sox 5-4

The star slugger had gone 16 games and 75 plate appearances without a longball before launching a clutch drive into the lower left-field seats off reliever Cam Booser (2-3) for a 5-4 advantage.

New York won its third straight and extended its AL East lead to three games over Baltimore, held hitless for 8 2/3 innings by four Tigers pitchers in a 1-0 loss at Detroit. It is the Yankees' largest cushion since they led by 3 1/2 games before a June 15 defeat at Boston that started a 4-14 slide.

“Hopefully nobody's looking at the standings,” Judge said. “I'm certainly not.”

The fading Red Sox (74-74) are 4 1/2 games behind Minnesota for the league's last wild card.

Mark Leiter Jr. (4-5) got four outs in relief of starter Clarke Schmidt for the win. Luke Weaver struck out five in two scoreless innings to earn his second career save.

“Just got to keep it rolling,” Judge said. “Everybody’s doing their job.”

Judge’s eighth career slam and second this season sent the Yankee Stadium crowd of 45,292 — and jubilant players in the New York dugout — into a jumping, dancing frenzy. The 6-foot-7 team captain popped out of the dugout for a curtain call.

“Tonight was rocking, especially in that seventh inning,” Judge said. “Kind of felt like a playoff atmosphere there in the seventh inning as we were kind of rallying. So, we've been waiting for that, that's for sure.”

It was the 52nd homer of the season for Judge, who also leads the majors with 130 RBI. He hadn’t gone deep since Aug. 25, when he homered twice against Colorado.

Judge hit nine homers in 10 games before the drought.

The 2022 AL MVP set a career worst when his homerless streak reached 16 games Thursday night against Boston.

Richard Fitts pitched five shutout innings for Boston after Tanner Houck was scratched less than an hour before the first pitch due to right shoulder fatigue.

“I think the team did everything they needed to do," Booser said. “I think this is solely on me. Didn’t do my job.”

Masataka Yoshida snapped a scoreless tie when he connected for a two-run homer that chased Schmidt with two outs in the sixth.

Trevor Story hit a two-run shot off Leiter in the seventh for a 4-0 lead, his first home run this season after returning last weekend from a dislocated left shoulder that had sidelined him since April 6.

“It’s a tough one. No getting around it," Story said. "Tough game. That kind of stuff can happen in the big leagues.”

Zack Kelly walked the bottom two batters in New York's lineup starting the seventh and was removed after an RBI single by Gleyber Torres. Juan Soto drew a four-pitch walk from Booser before Judge connected on a 2-0 fastball.

“I think this probably might be my most memorable win of my career so far here. I think just the magnitude of that homer,” said Schmidt, who made his second start since since recovering from a strained right lat muscle.

“It was like everything clicked. It was a perfect moment. Just really special. The whole team's kind of a part of it.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: OF Rob Refsnyder (right wrist discomfort) remained out of the starting lineup, but manager Alex Cora said he hopes Refsnyder can start Sunday against left-hander Carlos Rodón. ... RHP Liam Hendriks said he still hopes to pitch for the Red Sox this season despite a small setback in his rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery — but that will largely depend on whether they remain in the pennant race. Hendriks will receive a cortisone injection in his right elbow Monday in Boston and then be shut down for about three days before he resumes throwing.

Yankees: Manager Aaron Boone said Judge will probably be the designated hitter Saturday to give him a bit of a breather.

UP NEXT

Red Sox RHP Brayan Bello (13-7, 4.70 ERA) faces Yankees ace Gerrit Cole (6-4, 3.36) on Saturday.

How can I watch Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees?
  • TV Channel: Red Sox at Yankees 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on Apple TV+.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Yankees: 61.8%
Red Sox: 38.2%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Rafaela struck out swinging.
9th Inning Story popped out to second.
9th Inning Casas struck out looking.
8th Inning Verdugo struck out looking.
8th Inning Volpe struck out looking.
8th Inning Rizzo flied out to center.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/bos.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBOS https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/nyy.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNYY
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
0 Hit By Pitch 0
12 Ground Balls 7
12 Strikeouts 7
4 Runs Batted In 5
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
9 Hits 7
0 Stolen Bases 0
1 Walks 6
0 Catcher Interference 0
4 Runs 5
0 Ground Into Double Play 0
0 Sacrifice Flies 0
35 At Bats 30
2 Home Runs 1
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 1
11 Runners Left On Base 12
0 Triples 0
0 Game Winning RBIs 1
0 Intentional Walks 0
1 Doubles 1
11 Fly Balls 16
1 Caught Stealing 1
150 Pitches 147
0 Games Started 0
0 Pinch At Bats 0
0 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
1 Is Qualified In Steals 1
16 Total Bases 11
36 Plate Appearances 36
324.0 Projected Home Runs 162.0
3 Extra Base Hits 2
4.1 Runs Created 4.2
.257 Batting Average .233
.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.457 Slugging Percentage .367
.200 Secondary Average .300
.278 On Base Percentage .361
.735 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .728
1.1 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.4
4.1 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 4.7
33.0 Batter Rating 32.0
17.5 At Bats Per Home Run 30.0
0.00 Stolen Base Percentage 0.00
4.17 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 4.08
.200 Isolated Power .133
0.08 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.86
.028 Walks Per Plate Appearance .167
-.057 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average .067
8.0 Runs Produced 10.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.5 Patience Ratio 0.5
0.3 Balls In Play Average 0.3
82.5 MLB Rating 80.8
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Yankee Stadium

Location: Bronx, New York
Attendance: 45,292 | Capacity:

2024 American League East Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
New York 94 68 .580 - W1
Baltimore 91 71 .562 3 W3
Boston 81 81 .500 13 W1
Tampa Bay 80 82 .494 14 L1
Toronto 74 88 .457 20 L3
Full Standings