The anticipation to see Aaron Judge hitting his record-equalling 61st home run was very high in Yankee Stadium on Thursday. When the slugger lifted a throw from Red Sox pitcher Matt Barnes to the center field, everyone ranging from fans to his teammates and announcers began to celebrate. They thought it was going to cross the 408-feet distance over the wall. Alas, it fell short by 4 feet and into the gloves of Kike Hernandez.
The excitement of a home run chase in baseball is unmatched by any other sport, and Judge’s exploits against Boston provided ample evidence of this fact.
Aaron Judge didn’t have many chances to make history. He went into the game against the Red Sox with 60 home runs and needed one more to tie Roger Maris for the all-time American League record. Alex Cora, the manager of the Red Sox promised that his pitchers would “attack” the New York slugger like they always did, but the contender for AL MVP and Triple Crown was walked in three of his first four at-bats.
Judge’s best chance came in the ninth inning when the score was 4-4 and Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes was pitching. Everything was in place for not only a home run that tied a record but also a walk-off home run that won the game.
On the fifth pitch, with the count at 2-2, Judge hit a high fastball and set off a roar throughout Yankee Stadium. The Fox broadcast, led by play-by-play man Kenny Albert, thought he had hit a home run “Aaron Judge! Center field! Way back! “while the camera showed a shot that was clearly a home run.
Albert ended his call by saying, “But Hernandez is there.” The ball fell just a few feet short of the center-field wall and into the glove of Kiké Hernández.
The display by the MLB Statcast gave the crowd a thrilling reason to be electrified. After Aaron Judge hit the ball, it traveled at a speed of 113.0 miles per hour and went to 404 feet. It was the hardest and longest hit of the game, where there were two actual home runs.
Unfortunately, Aaron Judge hit the ball deep into the ballpark, so history will have to wait at least one more day, with Friday spent entirely within the confines of Apple TV+.
The good news for the Yankees is that they still beat their rivals. They kept the Red Sox from scoring in the top of the 10th inning, and Josh Donaldson’s single in the bottom of the 10th gave them the win.
Friday at 7 p.m. ET will be Judge’s next chance to tie Maris. He will have a better chance of getting a hit against the Red Sox’s left-handed starter, Rich Hill.
Will Aaron Judge be able to end his two-game home run drought?
