Aaron Judge's first home run of this post-season was one of a kind.
Trailing by three, the New York Yankees right-fielder stepped to the plate representing the tying run against Toronto Blue Jays flamethrower Louis Varland.
After fouling off a knuckle curve on the outside black and swinging through a 100 m.p.h. fastball down the middle, Judge delivered a game-changing swing.
The two-time MVP pulled his hands in on a 99.7 m.p.h. fastball that was in on the plate and lofted a high flyball off the left-field foul pole, evening the score at 6-6.
It was the first time in the Statcast Era, regular or post-season, that a hitter had homered on a 99 m.p.h. or harder pitch that was 1.2 feet inside from the centre of the strike zone.
"Give him credit, man. That was a ridiculous swing," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said after his team's 9-6 loss.
"He made a really good pitch look really bad," Varland added.
Judge had a little help from his teammate, Giancarlo Stanton, in being prepared for his at-bat against Varland.
The Blue Jays right-hander entered in a big spot during the sixth inning of Game 1, and set down Stanton on a 100.7 m.p.h. fastball to strand bases loaded, preserving a 2-1 Toronto lead.
“Talked to (Stanton) about what some pitches were like. I hadn’t seen Varland since he was with Minnesota as a starter,” Judge said post-game.
Before Judge flipped the mood at Yankee Stadium, Austin Wells reached on an error by Addison Barger, and Trent Grisham worked a walk against Mason Fluharty.
With the Yankees down 2-0 in the ALDS, the blast also put Judge into some historic company. It was his sixth playoff home run in an elimination game — tied with David Ortiz for the most in MLB history.
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