The New York Yankees were being no-hit through six innings against Houston Astros starting pitcher Jose Urquidy on Sunday afternoon. However, when slugger Giancarlo Stanton stepped up to the plate in the 7th inning, he made it his personal mission to break that streak.
The Yankees had gone 16 innings without recording a hit, but it took one swing of the bat from Stanton to put them on the board.
Down 3–1 heading into the 8th inning, lead-off man DJ LeMahieu had an opportunity to tie the game. DJ came in clutch, smashing a homer to left field, driving in Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
Tied at three apiece, the Yankees had an opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the 9th inning with Aaron Hicks at the plate. Unfortunately, he struck out and Gleyber Torres twisted his right ankle heading back to third base, leaving the game prematurely.
Going into extra innings, Michael King had an opportunity to stifle a dangerous Houston batting order. With the bases loaded and two men out, King produced two fly balls to get out of the inning, giving his offense another opportunity to steal a win.
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Aaron Judge does it again!
In the bottom of the 10th, star slugger and MVP candidate Aaron Judge smacked a three-run homer to left-centerfield, traveling 417 feet. Houston walked lefty Matt Carpenter to face off against two consecutive right-handed batters, but putting themselves in the path of LeMahieu and Judge was always a risky decision.
Judge now has two walk off hits in his last four games, leading the MLB with 28 home runs on the season. The Yankees will now look ahead to the Oakland Athletics on Monday evening.
The Bombers will feature Jordan Montgomery on the mound, hosting a 2.97 ERA over 78.2 innings. Oakland will start Paul Blackburn, who also has a 2.97 ERA over 75.2 innings. Blackburn doesn’t give up many home runs, but as we saw on Sunday afternoon, you can never tell when the Yankees’ offense is going to explode.