Aaron Judge is back — and the Yankees have to hope their offense is too.
After homering in his last at-bat against the Rays in Sunday’s loss, Judge went deep twice in an 11-10 win over the Angels in The Bronx on Monday.
And it was just enough, as the Yankees bullpen repeatedly blew leads.
The back-and-forth victory snapped a five-game losing streak, as the Yankees took advantage of five home runs and won it on a Jordan Romano wild pitch that scored José Caballero with Ryan McMahon at the plate — and Judge on deck.
In his first at-bat versus the Angels Yusei Kikuchi, Judge took a 2-0 changeup and blasted a two-run, 456-foot shot halfway up the bleachers in left-center for an early lead in the bottom of the first.
With the Yankees involved in a battle with the Angels — thanks to a bad night by just about every pitcher Aaron Boone went to, starting with Will Warren — the Yankees needed Judge again in the bottom of the sixth.
He gave them the lead again with a solo shot to left.
It was his sixth homer of the young season, but it also put Judge in the franchise record books.
The multihomer game was Judge’s 47th of his career, passing Mickey Mantle and leaving him behind only Babe Ruth, who had 68 with the Yankees, as well as the most in MLB history with 72.
Still, the Yankees don’t want to completely rely on Judge, but a combination of poor performance from half the lineup for much of the season- and an ugly one from the bullpen on Monday, forced that to be the case again.
And that’s why the Yankees can’t seem to afford any drop-off from Judge and weren’t able to during the five-game losing streak entering Monday’s game.
The encouraging start to the season has been replaced by worries in the bullpen and all over the infield, where Jazz Chisholm Jr., McMahon and Caballero have all disappointed in multiple facets of the game.
And the pen has been inconsistent at best.
With Warren knocked out in the fourth inning — despite bringing a no-hitter into the frame — Boone had to turn to Fernando Cruz, who walked a pair of batters and forced in a run.
Lefty Tim Hill allowed three hits and a run in 1 ²/₃ innings, but the Yankees have generally been able to rely on both Cruz and Hill.
That has not been the case with Jake Bird, a disaster after coming over from the Rockies at last year’s trade deadline.
The right-hander gave up a three-run homer to Mike Trout, and two innings later, Doval allowed a two-run shot to Trout, who entered the game with just a pair of homers on the season.
But with the threat of Judge in the on-deck circle, Romano threw a 3-2 pitch in the dirt to give the Yankees the win.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
