– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BALTIMORE — All evening long, the Baltimore Orioles made the most concerted of efforts to steer clear of the bat of Aaron Judge, even as the Yankees slugger came in to tonight mired in a week-long slump. But, in the third inning, the Orioles did give the All-Star outfielder one look at a pitch that he could take a rip at.
Oops!
Along with walking four times, Judge blasted his Major League-leading 33rd home run of the season over the high left-field wall with one of the two swings he was able to unload on in the entire game, helping the Yankees defeat the Orioles 4-1 to begin the weekend set between the top two teams in the American League. Gerrit Cole allowed just one run in six innings of work while striking out seven in his longest outing of the season as New York moves within a game of the Orioles for first place in the division with two games remaining before the All-Star Break.
Judge’s blast marked the third time in franchise history that a Yankee has ever hit 33 homers before the All-Star Game, matching his total from the 2022 season in which he went on to break the American League single-season home run record with 62. The man whom Judge surpassed for the aforementioned record, Roger Maris, also had 33 home runs during his then-record-breaking 61-homer season in 1961.
With the Yankees up 2-1 and leading off the third inning, Judge, who came into tonight with just four hits (all singles) in his last 31 at-bats, faced Orioles rookie left-hander Cade Povich, who issued a four-pitch walk when the two players squared off in the first inning. On the 0-1 pitch, Povich got Judge to swing and miss at a curveball for strike two. The next pitch was also a curveball … which Judge drove 397 feet, clearing the 13-foot wall in left field to give New York a two-run advantage.
The careful strategy that teams have employed by pitching around Judge and fellow outfield slugger Juan Soto continues to force the other Yankees hitters to step up, and that’s exactly what the bottom of the order did to put the Yankees on top in the second — as well as pick the rest of the team up after leaving the bases loaded against Povich in the first. Anthony Volpe, the No. 7 hitter, singled to begin the inning and advanced to third on an error by right fielder Anthony Santander. Jose Trevino followed with a double down the left field line to open the scoring, and then No. 9 hitter Jahmai Jones singled to center to double New York’s lead.
The Orioles have lost four straight after being swept by the Cubs just prior to tonight, and tempers boiled over in the ninth inning when the benches cleared after Orioles left fielder Heston Kjerstad was hit on the back of the helmet by a Clay Holmes pitch. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde shouted and he stormed his way toward the Yankees dugout before he was held back by catcher Austin Wells, and players from both teams soon emptied their respective benches. Hyde was ejected from the game, and Kjerstad, after being looked over by the trainer, was able to walk off the field under his own power as he was replaced by Austin Hays.
“My guy just got hit right in the ear,” Hyde said. “I’m upset and then I see their dugout and they’re waving at me and yelling at me, so I just didn’t appreciate it at the time.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Friday evening’s game, with photos taken by New York-based photographer Gregory Fisher. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 14 pictures in total.
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