WASHINGTON — It’s one thing for Aaron Judge to hit more home runs with more ease than anyone else in baseball. When he starts fly circuits too, which might be unfair.
Judge sat at 51 homers throughout the series opener Monday in the nation’s capital, but that didn’t stop him from making a huge impact on the center-field wall. This one came with his glove, as Judge jumped to remove what would have been a two-run homer by Andres Chaparro in the fourth inning of New York’s 5-2 victory over the Nationals.
Judge also had his 1,000th career hit, Gleyber Torres, Austin Wells and Jazz Chisholm Jr. all homered, and Nestor Cortes went 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball as the Yankees maintained the American League’s best record with another victory at Juan Soto’s former home stadium. The win extended New York’s lead in the American League East to two games over the Orioles, their largest lead since June 26.
Soto was the talk of the town all afternoon before his third series (seventh game overall) back at Nationals Park since being traded from Washington to San Diego in a blockbuster at the 2022 trade deadline, and his first game as a Yankee in the nation’s capital. Soto was hitless with a walk. Judge also walked before collecting his 1,000th career hit, an opposite-field single in the ninth inning.
Judge is the 42nd player in Yankees history to reach the milestone, and the first since Brett Gardner in 2017.
Before the game, Soto spoke about his time in the American capital and his first year in the pinstriped jersey before taking over. He was also asked what makes Judge so special, what sets him apart from other players.
“He’s 6’1”,” Soto said. “He’s a great player. Every day he comes out there and works hard and does whatever it takes to be ready for the game. His work ethic is one of the best I’ve ever seen, and he shows it every day.”
Chaparro threw the ball on a 1-2 fastball from Cortes, hitting it 99.4 mph with a 27-degree launch angle and a 389-foot throw. That should be enough to get the ball over the left-center field wall at Nationals Park, along a stretch of the wall just past the visitors’ bullpen.
But not when the 6-foot-1 Judge patrolled center. Judge climbed over the wall to catch Chaparro’s fly ball, then made a precise throw to cutoff man Torres to start an 8-4-3 double play that ended the inning.
