Judge crushes 351st dinger, tied for 6th on Yanks' all-time list

ATLANTA – Alex Rodriguez said goodbye on the evening of Aug. 12, 2016, playing his final Major League game at Yankee Stadium. The next afternoon, Aaron Judge introduced himself to the Bronx, rattling the restaurant glass above Monument Park with a thunderous first career home run.

Nearly a decade later, the sluggers’ careers intersected again. Judge launched his 351st career homer in the first inning on Sunday, tying A-Rod for sixth place on the club’s all-time home run list in the Yankees’ 4-2 victory over the Braves in the rubber match at Truist Park.

“It’s just an incredible honor, especially growing up and watching A-Rod for so many years, watching what he did in the pinstripes,” Judge said. “He’s a legend, one of the best to ever play. So getting to tie him with the Yankees, that’s pretty cool – but there’s more to come.”

Babe Ruth remains the franchise’s all-time leader with 659 homers, followed by Mickey Mantle (536), Lou Gehrig (493), Joe DiMaggio (361) and Yogi Berra (358).

Judge’s blast off right-hander Grant Holmes was his 36th of the season and his first at Truist Park, the 32nd Major League park in which he has homered.

That ties Judge with Willy Adames, Randal Grichuk and Carlos Santana for the third-most parks homered in among active players. Only Giancarlo Stanton (36) and Manny Machado (34) have gone deep in more.

Considering the fatigued state of the Yankees’ bullpen, early support was welcome. Backed by Judge’s homer and Paul Goldschmidt’s run-scoring single in the first, Marcus Stroman provided exactly what New York needed: six innings of one-run ball, yielding only Matt Olson’s solo homer in the sixth.

“I always want to go six or seven innings. That’s always the goal,” Stroman said. “That’s how I came up – you take the ball and you go six or seven innings as a starter. There was definitely an emphasis on today, just being that we’re a little thin [in relief].”

Yankees manager Aaron Boone revealed after the game that he was trying to stay away from relievers Jonathan Loáisiga, Luke Weaver, JT Brubaker and Scott Effross. His plan: Pass the baton from Stroman to Ian Hamilton, then Tim Hill and finally Devin Williams. It worked perfectly.

Stroman scattered five hits with no walks and four strikeouts, syncing smoothly with catcher Ben Rice.

“I thought he continued to do a nice job of mixing and matching,” Boone said. “Staying unpredictable, using all his pitches and using both sides of the plate. Ben did a great job with him back there.”

Said Judge: “You go up and down that [Braves] lineup – they’ve got guys that can hit for power, hit for average, make things happen. It’s a tricky lineup to navigate, and [Stroman] was on today. That was fun to watch.”

Since returning from the injured list on June 29, Stroman is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA over four starts (21 innings).

“The key for Stro is being willing to get into the strike zone and having presence on both sides of the plate,” Boone said.

Jorbit Vivas made a sparkling defensive play to help Stroman escape a third-inning jam, a diving grab in foul ground of Jurickson Profar’s popped-up bunt. Stroman then induced Olson to ground into an inning-ending double play.

“That was probably the one big threat they had going in that game,” Boone said. “Vivas really laid out, Superman-style, for that one.”

Added Stroman: “That was huge. I felt like I had guys on first and second before I could blink. To have him lay out there, the momentum shifted in our favor.”

Vivas contributed with his bat, too – or more accurately, with his leg. He was plunked in the left knee by a pitch from Holmes with the bases loaded in the sixth, forcing in the Yanks’ third run. Jazz Chisholm Jr. roped a run-scoring double off Dane Dunning in the seventh.

Williams worked around a Ronald Acuña Jr. homer in the ninth for his 14th save, sealing a series win before the Yankees head to Toronto for a key showdown with the American League East-leading Blue Jays starting Monday night. Toronto (58-41) won on Sunday to maintain its three-game lead over New York (55-44) in the division.

“This was a big series win, especially going into Toronto,” Judge said. “It’s a good time to start getting hot.”