Aaron Judge Takes Another Cy Young Winner Deep In October As Yankees Make Statement Crushing Rays

What separates Aaron Judge from the rest of the pack – and what should keep No. 99 in pinstripes for as long as he’d like to wear them – is his ability to hit elite pitching under the bright lights in October.

Bring on your aces with four plus-pitches. Bring on your closers with triple-digit heat.

Judge will take them all deep in the postseason.

With $324 million man Gerrit Cole in need of a pick-me-up and the Yankees in need of a win in Game 1 of the ALDS – just look at their starting pitching after No. 45 – Judge got a fifth-inning hanger from longtime pal Blake Snell and deposited it 374 feet into the left-field seats for the go-ahead home run.

Judge’s solo shot – the team’s third homer off the Rays southpaw – enabled The Bronx Bombers to claim a 9-3 statement victory over Tampa at Petco Park.

The 28-year-old cornerstone now has 10 career playoff homers to his name. The last four of them have come versus Cy Young award winners in David Price (2018), Justin Verlander (2019), Shane Bieber (wild-card round) and Snell (before the blast, Judge had gone 1-for-18 against his good buddy).

His other postseason long-ball victims: Jose Berrios, Will Harris, Brad Peacock, Lance McCullers Jr., Liam Hendricks and Craig Kimbrel.

Cole versus Snell was all the rage going in – as was the genuine hatred between the two AL East rivals. The prime-time pitching matchup didn’t exactly live up to its billing, as neither team had any fear of the imposing arm standing 60-feet, 6-inches away.

Snell (5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER) labored throughout, as the Yankees executed much the way they did against Bieber, pounding fastballs and laying off breaking pitches. Clint Frazier, Kyle Higashioka and Judge all took him deep.

Cole, meanwhile, continued to get pounded by the Rays after posting a 4.96 ERA against them in the regular season. Breakout star Randy Arozarena dominated Cole for three bullet hits – including a towering 410-foot solo shot. And Cole Killer Ji-Man Choi added a 429-foot two-run homer (making him 10-for-18 with four homers versus Cole at the time).

The 30-year-old righty, who made $13.3 million in 2020 compared to $8.1 million for Tampa’s entire lineup, did manage to preserve a one-run lead in the fifth when he struck out Manny Margot with a 100.1 mph fastball — his fastest pitch of the season — to strand the bases loaded after smartly intentionally walking Choi with runners on the corners.

A primal roar followed.

Cole, who may be needed again should the series go five, allowed three runs on six hits in six innings (97 pitches) and struck out eight. Chad Green and Zack Britton put up back-to-back goose eggs on the scoreboard before the Yankees put the game to bed with a five-run eighth.

Giancarlo Stanton delivered the knockout punch with a grand-slam — his third homer of the postseason — off John Curtiss in the frame. After Stanton admired it, Curtiss threw his next pitch up-and-in to Gio Urshela and Gleyber Torres also got some chin music from Tampa’s righty reliever. Torres later stole second with the Yankees up six runs, perhaps in response.

Aroldis Chapman wasn’t needed with the score out of hand, but his 101-mph head-hunting of Mike Brosseau certainly hasn’t been forgotten. Clearly, the animosity remains.

The Yankees may have come in trying to play the role of Little Engine That Could, but they’re still a Fully Operational Death Star. And even as they went 2-8 against the Rays in the regular season – and were out-homered 16-13 — they never had their full lineup, with Judge and Stanton getting a combined 24 at-bats.

Now they have to navigate a Deivi Garcia versus Tyler Glasow (who could retaliate and send a message for those eighth-inning antics) in Game 2 and Masahiro Tanaka versus Charlie Morton in Game 3. But those tough matchups are a lot easier to deal with up 1-0 than down 0-1 – especially after Aaron Boone outmaneuvered Kevin Cash.

The Yankees are 3-0 in the posteason with 11 homers and 31 runs. Lots of empty calories for A-Rod. Also, a massive statement. These savages can’t be beat if they keep slugging like this.

Judge, by the way, won’t be a free agent until 2023. ESPN broadcasters speculated the possibility of a Yankees-Mets bidding war for his services. The Bronx Bombers can’t allow for that to happen.

Pay No. 99. Lock him up for as long as he wants. He’s more than earned his pinstripes in October.