Yankees' Aaron Judge hits 467-foot home run into third deck to spark win over Twins

MINNEAPOLIS — Aaron Judge has hit plenty of home runs that have caused teammates in the dugout — and even some in rival dugouts — to react like wide-eyed kids.

Among the early memorable ones came during his 52-homer Rookie of the Year season in July 2017 when he planted a baseball in the third-to-last row of the second deck at Seattle’s Safeco Field, the ball nearly leaving the stadium entirely.

That had a still-disbelieving David Robertson afterward saying: “It’s not fair. It’s like he’s playing on a Little League field. I’ve never seen anyone hit a ball like that. I don’t know what to say.”

Judge had another such blast Wednesday night.

Batting with two outs in the first inning against Twins righthander Pablo Lopez, one of the premiere pitchers in the AL, Judge sent a first-pitch, 95-mph sinker 467 feet into the third deck at Target Field, the first of four hits for the centerfielder, who added three doubles, in a 4-0 victory in front of a crowd of 22,235.

“As soon as it was hit, myself included, it was like you wanted to get to a position where you don’t miss where it’s going to land,” Aaron Boone said of the dugout reaction at contact. “I even felt G [Giancarlo Stanton] running up the steps to get in position to see it. That’s how that swing felt. Right away one of those you say], ‘Where’s this one going to land?’ ”

Judge crushed what was his 11th homer of the season, and fifth in his last nine games, the ball leaving his bat at 113 mph. Judge, who walked in his final plate appearance, came into the night slashing .339/.464/.732 (19-for-56) with six homers, 14 RBIs, 12 walks and 13 runs over his previous 16 games.

Needless to say, the embarrassing overreaction regarding the 2022 American League MVP’s slow start, which included Judge hearing boos in April at Yankee Stadium and Boone actually being asked if he was considering moving Judge out of the third spot in the order, has dissipated.

“We’re getting there, we’re getting there,” Judge, typically blasé about his good performances throughout his career, said with a smile of how he’s been feeling at the plate of late. “Not there yet.”

The centerfielder took a similar tact in discussing his monstrous homer, saying: “It happened so fast, man, I don’t even know what’s going through my head. I’m just locked in on trying to take a good swing on a good pitch.”

But what would his reaction be to seeing a teammate hit one 467 feet?

Judge smiled again.

“Well, I’ve seen Big G do that quite a few times and it usually leaves me speechless,” he said.

Judge led an offensive attack that produced 13 hits, one night after the Yankees (29-15), winners in 10 of their last 13 games, amassed 13 in Tuesday night’s 5-1 victory.

Anthony Volpe’s sacrifice fly in the second, coming after consecutive one-out singles by Gleyber Torres, Jose Trevino and Oswaldo Cabrera, made it 2-0. Stanton lined an RBI single in the third that scored Judge — after the first of his three doubles — to make it 3-0. Judge’s scorched double over the head of Twins centerfielder Willi Castro, whose adventurous night in the field included him losing track of the outs on Volpe’s sacrifice fly, brought in Juan Soto, who had doubled, in the seventh for 4-0 lead.

Judge’s performance, which helped the Yankees improve to a hard-to-believe 119-44 against the Twins (24-18) since 2002, overshadowed what Boone termed “a gritty” outing by Marcus Stroman, who had not been sharp in two of his last three starts, including his most recent one against the Astros when he allowed a season-high four runs and nine hits.

The righthander from Patchogue-Medford High School was in control for the most part, allowing two hits and three walks over six innings in improving to 3-2 with a 3.33 ERA. Two of the walks came in the second inning, which included a one-out error by Volpe, that helped load the bases, but Stroman induced a groundout and the pitcher mostly coasted from there.

“I thought Trevi was really good behind the dish,” Stroman said, referencing catcher Jose Trevino. “I thought he had great sequencing. Mechanically, I thought I was battling it a little bit in the beginning, but I thought as the game progressed, I started to feel stronger and stronger.”

Extra bases

Outfield prospect Jasson Dominguez, who had a scheduled day off Wednesday after starting a rehab assignment Tuesday night with Class-A Tampa, is all but certain to be sent to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre when his 20-day rehab clock is up (it’s 30 days for pitchers). Aaron Boone has said the club’s plan is to have the 21-year-old, rehabbing from Tommy John surgery for a torn UCL and in need of essentially a four-week spring training, DH the first two weeks of his assignment. The Yankees, with a productive starting outfield trio of Alex Verdugo, Judge and Soto, would have no logical reason to bring Dominguez to the big leagues to finish off his rehab, especially with no opportunities for regular playing time … Righty reliever Tommy Kahnle, who started the season on the IL with right shoulder inflammation, struck out the side Tuesday night in a rehab game with Double-A Somerset, his third rehab game overall (the first two were with Class-A Tampa). Boone said Kahnle would pitch Thursday and Sunday with Somerset and it’s possible he’s activated early next week during the Mariners’ series.