Aaron Judge’s MLB-leading 52nd home run snaps career-long drought, sparks Yankees’ 5-4 comeback win over Red Sox

Yankees captain Aaron Judge‘s first home run in 19 days doubled as one of his biggest all season. He snapped a career-long 16-game stretch without a home run and put New York ahead of the Red Sox in the seventh inning with his eighth career grand slam as the Yankees overcame a four-run deficit and won Friday’s game against Boston, 5-4.

Takeaways

1. Judge is all the way back. Homerless since two long balls on Aug. 25 in New York’s 10-3 win over the Colorado Rockies, Judge broke out of his drought by saving the Yankees (86-62) and getting a monkey off his back as the season winds down.

Judge’s 52nd home run of the year — a missile down the left-field line and into the first few rows, punishing a 2-0 fastball at 95 mph off southpaw Cam Booser — put the questions to rest while fueling New York from behind against the rival Red Sox (74-74) on an evening where the Yankees looked dead. Through 146 games, Judge is slashing .321/.455/.688 with 130 RBI.

2. Not to be overlooked, Gleyber Torres deserves credit. He got New York on the board and set the stage for Judge, following seventh-inning-starting walks by Anthony Volpe and Alex Verdugo by pulling an RBI single through the left side off Zack Kelly as the Yankees chipped away at Boston’s 4-1 lead. Torres, with a 1-for-4 evening in the leadoff spot, is slashing .250/.326/.365 with 13 home runs and 57 RBI through 141 games.

3. Clarke Schmidt (5-3, 2.41 ERA) left with the Yankees trailing, but the right-hander gave New York a chance to win in his second start back from the injured list and looks strong as the postseason looms. He allowed two runs on five hits while striking out five and walking one in 5.2 IP.

4. Jasson Domínguez, whom the Yankees recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre earlier this week, was benched for Verdugo after a 1-for-3 showing in Thursday’s 2-1 win. Domínguez has sat two of New York’s past three games. Verdugo, who batted ninth and started in left field, was 0-for-3 with a walk as he lowered his slash line to .236/.295/.360 through 140 games.

Who’s the MVP?

Judge, who snapped out of it at a time that sparked the Yankees’ come-from-behind win.

Highlights

What’s next

The Yankees go for the series win as they and the Red Sox continue their four-game set in Saturday’s 1:05 p.m. matchup.

Right-handers Gerrit Cole (6-4, 3.36 ERA) and Brayan Bello (13-7, 4.70 ERA) are set to start.