TORONTO — The Yankees ran the numbers ahead of their first visit of the season to the Rogers Center and decided an opening game would offer their best chance of neutralizing the Blue Jays’ strong lineup. The plan worked perfectly.
“We need to improve here, especially against the best teams in the American League East,” said Judge. “Getting that first game against the Blue Jays is a big deal, but we still have some tough games ahead of us.”
Returning to the scene of his 61st home run on September 28 of last season, which equaled Roger Maris’ AL home run record by a season, Judge appeared to be picking up right where he left off.
The hitter hit a home run in the first inning by Alek Manoah and then hit Jay Jackson deep in the eighth — a 462-foot shot into midfield that immediately followed Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s ejection, who threw balls and punches with had argued with the home player. Plate referee Clint Vondrak.
“Honestly, it’s probably just a normal day for him,” said Willie Calhoun, who hit a two-run home run in the first run. “But for many others, that would be one of the longest home runs of their careers.”
Boone had already arrived at the visitors’ clubhouse when Judge hit the ball, and the manager said he “let out a pretty loud yell” as the ball hit the wall.
“It was good,” Boone said, “to see him actually hit one of those.”
The punch was thoroughly investigated, and not just because of the home run, which ricocheted off the judge’s punch at a speed of 114.9 miles per hour. On the Blue Jays’ broadcast, Sportsnet announcers Dan Shulman and Buck Martinez wondered aloud why Judge’s gaze seemed to flick to the right before a pitch was made.
The judge’s explanation was that after Boone’s ejection, there was too much “chirping” from the visitors’ shelter.
“I said a few things while I was in the dugout, and especially after the game,” Judge said. “Hopefully that doesn’t happen again.”
With the homer, Judges 10th of the year, he surpassed Alex Rodriguez (29) for fifth-most multi-homer games in a Yankees uniform. Only Babe Ruth (68), Mickey Mantle (46), Lou Gehrig (43), and Joe DiMaggio (35) have produced more such games in franchise history.
“Tonight we did a good job finding something to ride and putting a good swing on it to do some damage,” Judge said.
New York flipped the script when it came to a pitching imbalance and saw Cordero and Brito play back and forth while beating Manoah for five runs with six hits and seven walks for more than four innings.
“Any time you can score early, that’s always a good thing,” Boone said. “We improved pretty well and I felt like we had chances throughout the night to build even more. A really good plan by the guys and they executed it.”
While Manoah dished out blasts to Judge and Calhoun in the first inning, Cordero played the opener role well, knocking out all six batters he faced.
“It was great that Jimmy set us up and played through the first six hitters, mostly strong right-handers,” Boone said. “He put us in a good position for Jhony, who came in and threw the ball really well.”
Cordero said: “It was a good experience for me. Yes, for sure, 100 percent, I would do it again.”
Brito threw five scoreless innings before Toronto finally broke four runs (one deserved) in the eighth, a frame that featured an error from Gleyber Torres.
“When the coaches spoke to me, they said they had an idea they wanted to implement,” Brito said through an interpreter. “After every start I worked very hard to improve my strength and understand how I can get better. I was able to put a lot of good things together tonight.”