Yankees beat Giants behind yet another home run by Aaron Judge

SAN FRANCISCO — Aaron Judge’s June started the way his May ended.

Well, not exactly.

The centerfielder homered twice in the Yankees’ victory over the Giants on Friday night, capping a historic month in which he became the first player in franchise history to hit at least 14 homers and at least 12 doubles.

On Saturday night, Judge managed only one homer.

Again torturing the team he grew up rooting for in the ballpark in which he attended its games, Judge hit a 464-foot two-run homer off Logan Webb in the first inning to lead the Yankees to a 7-3 victory over the Giants in front of 34,487 at Oracle Park.

The blast was his 15th home run in a span of 85 at-bats in his last 25 games and was his 21st of the season.

“Electric,’’ Alex Verdugo said. “He’s one of those guys, he gets the team off started on the road perfectly. It was a big at-bat. He battled his behind off and saw a lot of pitches and put a really good swing on a ball and a 2-0 lead, which lets our guy Cody [Poteet] kind of get out there and have the lead and just attack hitters. Huge.”

Said Aaron Boone: “Huge shot early. Really made him work. Between Juan [Soto] and Aaron there, I think, they probably saw 14, 15 pitches and Judgie finishes it off by getting on an off-speed pitch and sticking it. Great way to start the night against a really good pitcher.”

“He was making pitches,’’ Judge said. “He’s one of the best pitchers in the game for a reason. Ever since he’s been in the league, I feel like he’s been one of the best. In that first at-bat, he was throwing me everything. I was just up there battling, to be honest. And I was able to get one there with the (9th) pitch he left out over the middle. When a guy like that’s on the mound, you can’t miss a mistake.”

The Yankees (41-19), who went 21-7 in May — a month in which Judge slashed .371/.488/.928 with a 1.415 OPS — are 6-2 on this three-city, nine-game trip that ends Sunday afternoon.

Poteet, who made a successful spot start in Cleveland in April and, for now, is serving as the rotation replacement for the injured Clarke Schmidt, was solid. He allowed three runs (two earned) and three hits in five innings in which he walked one and struck out six. Yankees starters have lasted at least four innings in all 60 games, the only club in the majors to accomplish the feat.

Boone said of Poteet: “Just getting after it. Really good changeup. Changeup’s a really good pitch for him. I thought he threw some really good ones. A couple of times he got behind in the count, was still able to make some pitches. Overall, I thought he pitched with a lot of confidence, I thought he was on the attack. Gave us what we needed.”

The Yankees broke open a close game late, taking a 7-3 lead in the eighth on an infield single by Judge, an RBI triple by Verdugo and a two-run homer by Giancarlo Stanton (No. 14). All of the runs in the inning came with two outs.

Ian Hamilton, Caleb Ferguson, Tommy Kahnle and Clay Holmes combined to shut down the Giants (29-30) after Poteet was through.

Soto’s one-out single set up Judge in the first against Webb, who came in 4-4 with a 2.74 ERA. Judge then hammered a full-count changeup, with the ball coming off his bat at 115.7 mph, to left-center to make it 2-0.

“It’s special every day to play with him,” Anthony Rizzo, one of Judge’s closest friends in the sport, said after Friday night’s game. “To see him work behind the scenes, as an individual and as a teammate, it’s special. It’s special stuff. You appreciate it because we’re in the middle of greatness. It’s fun to watch . . . He’s our heartbeat.”

Stanton was asked if this is as hot as he’s seen Judge: “Probably,'' he said. "I mean, there’s runs in the ’22 season that were pretty wild, but this one’s on par with that for sure.”

DJ LeMahieu led off the third with a single, his third hit since returning from the injured list earlier in the week, and Anthony Volpe doubled to left. Soto’s sacrifice fly to the warning track in left and Verdugo’s RBI single to left made it 4-0.

In the bottom of the inning, Poteet walked Trenton Brooks and then grooved a first-pitch sinker that Casey Schmitt blasted to left for his first homer of the season. That made it 4-2.

Heliot Ramos led off the fifth with a grounder to short that Volpe fielded cleanly but threw into the Yankees’ dugout. Volpe’s seventh error, tied for the team high with Gleyber Torres, put Ramos at second. Poteet struck out Brooks with a curveball and Schmitt flied to deep center. Ramos tagged up on the play and initially was called out for leaving second early, but the Giants challenged and the call was overturned. Brett Wisley then yanked a ground smash past a diving Rizzo at first for an RBI single that made it 4-3.

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.