Aaron Judge had to play 600 major league games before hitting his first walk-off home run.
He finally connected in Tuesday night.
Judge hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning to a thrilling 6-5 victory over the Blue Jays.
Giancarlo Stanton tied it with a three-run homer in the sixth inning, and the Yankees rallied for their 14th win in 16 games.
New York overcame Severino’s shaky start to 21-8, the best record in the majors.
For Toronto, George Springer hit a leadoff homer, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a tiebreaking double in the eighth to help the Blue Jays take a 5-3 lead.
However, in the ninth inning, Jose Trevino and DJ LeMahieu drew one-out walks from Jordan Romano (1-2) before Judge hit a hanging 1-2 slider. The big slugger, who hit a game-winning homer for Double-A Trenton in April 2015, did a little dance as he approached the plate and was greeted by a swarm of excited teammates.
Judge’s home run was his 10th of the season. His 167 previous home runs ranked fifth among active players without a walk-off shot.
Judge and Stanton have homered in the same game 20 times, including the postseason, with the Yankees winning 19 of those games.
Wandy Peralta (1-0) pitched a hitless ninth inning to earn the victory.
Yusei Kikuchi pitched five hitless innings before Stanton tied the game in the sixth with a three-run homer off reliever Yimi Garca that cleared the short right-field porch by just a few rows. According to Statcast, the 335-foot drive would not have been a home run in any other major league ballpark.
That’s when the real fireworks began.
The players on the New York bench were upset, but Donaldson went to first base calmly and the umpires convened on the infield grass.
After a lengthy debate, crew chief Alfonso Marquez ejected Garcia, infuriating both the pitcher and several Blue Jays who spilled out of the dugout. Marquez also yelled at pitching coach Pete Walker during the heated exchange.
Garcia’s pitch, according to Donaldson, was not intentional, despite the fact that it looked bad. He admitted to having a “discussion” with Heineman on the field.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays RHP José Berríos (2-1, 5.34 ERA) pitches Wednesday against RHP Jameson Taillon (2-1, 2.84) when the AL East foes wrap up a two-game series with a 12:35 p.m. matinee. Taillon starts on seven days’ rest after throwing six sharp innings last Tuesday in a 9-1 win at Toronto.
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