The New York Yankees snapped out of their recent skid Sunday afternoon as Aaron Judge delivered a walk-off two-run homer in a 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium. New York improved to 31-22 with the victory, while Tampa Bay fell to 34-16.
Locked in a scoreless duel entering the ninth inning, Trent Grisham sparked the Yankees with a leadoff walk after battling back from an 0-2 count. One pitch later, Judge crushed a sinker from Kevin Kelly over the wall in right field to end the game and send the Bronx crowd home celebrating.
Judge also made a key defensive play in the eighth inning, laying out for a diving catch in right field to prevent the go-ahead run from advancing. Later in the inning, Cody Bellinger preserved the tie with a perfect throw to third base to cut down Junior Caminero trying to advance.
Ryan Weathers turned in one of his sharpest outings of the season for New York, tossing seven scoreless innings while allowing four hits. The left-hander walked three and struck out four while lowering his ERA to 3.14. The Yankees bullpen kept the game tied before Judge’s late heroics.
The win came at an important time for New York, which entered the afternoon with only four victories over its previous 14 games.
The Yankees open a three-game road series against the Kansas City Royals on Monday at 3:40 p.m. at Kauffman Stadium. Right-hander Will Warren is expected to start for New York against Kansas City veteran Michael Wacha.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to kyle@fingerlakes1.com.