Aaron Judge spent much of Monday night in Minneapolis looking like a star still shaking off the rust. Then he did what he so often does to the Twins: he changed everything with one swing.
Before the Yankees captain stepped to the plate in the eighth inning, he had grounded into a double play, struck out twice and carried a 3-for-20 line with 11 strikeouts since returning from the injured list. New York was already mounting a comeback at Target Field, so Judge didn’t have to ignite it himself.
George Lombard Jr. doubled, Ryan McMahon reached, José Caballero tied the game and Ben Rice lined a two-run single. Cody Bellinger added an infield hit, and suddenly the Yankees had turned a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead.
That set the stage for Judge against left-hander A.J. Minter.
He got a 2-2 cutter and crushed it into the left-field seats at 104.2 mph for a three-run homer. Statcast measured it at 415 feet with a 36-degree launch angle, while another game estimate put it at 397 feet. It was Judge’s first home run since May 24, and it stretched the Yankees’ lead to 7-2 in an eventual 8-3 win.
The Yankees have now won six of seven and entered Tuesday a season-high 24 games over .500.
The homer also pushed Judge into a place no hitter has ever occupied against the Twins. The broadcast leaderboard showed him with a 1.193 career OPS versus Minnesota, the highest mark ever for any hitter with at least 225 plate appearances against the franchise.
That puts Judge ahead of Ted Williams at 1.124, Babe Ruth at 1.122, Hank Greenberg at 1.093 and Jose Bautista at 1.092. The gap is real: Judge is 69 OPS points ahead of Williams, 71 ahead of Ruth, 100 ahead of Greenberg and 101 ahead of Bautista.
It was also the 386th home run of Judge’s career, tying Aramis Ramírez for 70th on baseball’s all-time list. Johnny Bench, with 389, is next. Judge has reached that number despite missing 84 games this season because of a stress fracture in his right first rib.
The Yankees did not send him on a minor league rehab assignment, and the first five games back were uneven. But his teammates saw the swing they had been waiting for on Monday.
“It was only a matter of time. He’s the best hitter on the planet,” Bellinger said.
Caballero had a similar reaction after watching the ball disappear into the seats.
“It feels like Judge is back,” Caballero said.
Judge was more restrained, saying he was trying to get better every day with the postseason in mind and meaningful regular-season games still ahead.
His season line now sits at .243/.363/.515 with 18 home runs and 41 RBIs in 65 games. Monday’s blast came in his 21st at-bat since returning.
Boone said he had not been worried, even if the box scores had not yet shown much proof.
“I’ve been pleased,” Boone said. “I haven’t been the least bit concerned about anything.
… He’s not all the way where he’s going to get to, but he’s got 20-plus at-bats now, which I think is valuable. We still got a couple weeks now to go and he’s only going to get hopefully more sharp as we head to the finish line.”
The Yankees have 12 regular-season games left, including four against the Rays, and they have already secured their place in October. Against Minnesota, though, Judge added another number to a matchup that already belonged to him.
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George Lombard Jr. Just Gave Yankees Fans A Tough October Question
George Lombard Jr. gave the Yankees a timely lift in their 8-3 win over the Minnesota Twins, helping spark the rally that locked up a postseason berth and added another layer to a rookie season that has already made him hard to ignore. For a club that has spent much of the year balancing development with urgency, Lombards bat has been part of the upside, and it was on display again when the Yankees needed a push to finish the job.
The question now is whether the Yankees can trust the rest of his game when the games get bigger. Lombard has been inconsistent defensively, with multiple errors and even a six-game stretch in August where he misfired every night, but Aaron Boone has stayed publicly confident in his long-term potential. For a team heading into October, that leaves one familiar Yankees dilemma hanging in the air: how much runway do they give a rookie whose talent is obvious, even if the mistakes have not gone away? [Read more 🡒]
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The appeal is obvious: when healthy, the Yankees can lean on a pitching staff and offense that executives believe can match up with anyone. Aaron Judge remains the headliner, and Cam Schlittler is among the names tied to the clubs upside, but the bigger question is whether New York can finally get enough of its key pieces on the field when October arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Suddenly Have A Rafael Devers Idea Fans Can't Ignore
Rafael Devers has already done enough this season to keep his name circulating well beyond San Francisco, and the Yankees are suddenly being mentioned as a possible landing spot as the offseason approaches. Buster Olney and Paul Hembekides floated the idea as a fit worth watching, pointing to Devers stronger offense and the simple reality that a bat like that tends to reshape any lineup conversation the minute it becomes available.
For the Yankees, the appeal goes beyond star power. There is a path to making the roster work with some positional shuffling, and the contract situation matters just as much as the production, especially with payroll always part of the equation in New York. The timing could also push the conversation forward quickly, since any major move before a projected lockout and a new collective bargaining agreement would give a front office less room to wait and see. [Read more 🡒]