Aaron Judge is on a roll, but the Yankees slugger can still get better. After Judge hit two clutch home runs in Sunday's 9-7 comeback win over the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, completing a four-game sweep, manager Aaron Boone put the surging RF's tear into perspective.
"Really think he's on a mission right now," Boone said of Judge. "When he got that clean bill of health and right before summer camp started, he started ramping up. There's just been an intensity level to his work, an energy level to the work that he's been able to do. He's just a great player that's, you can tell, feeling really good and I think continuing to actually get all the way locked in at the plate."
Judge went 2 for 4 with five RBI, sending a 2-0 pitch deep into the left-center bleachers for a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning. The 468-foot blast brought home 2B DJ LeMahieu, who tied the game up at 7-7 on an RBI single that scored LF Mike Tauchman one at-bat earlier.
"He just doesn't look like he's doing too much," LeMahieu said of Judge, whose first homer -- a three-run blast in the second inning -- put the Yankees up, 3-2. "Just really calm, easy, confident and obviously his talent speaks for itself. So when you put all those factors together, he is where he is and he's a dangerous hitter."
Having six homers in eight games, including at least one in five straight, Judge's run highlights a Yankees offense that is firing on all cylinders. As the Yankees (7-1) enter a four-game set with the Philadelphia Phillies (1-2) in Monday's series opener at home, the lineup feeds off of Judge.
"He's healthy, man, and he's a stud," said Luke Voit, whose solo shot in the fifth inning evened the score at 6-6. "There's a reason he almost won the (2017 AL) MVP and he's in a groove right now, and I'm excited to see what he can do in 60 games this year with how he's raking right now. It's a guy you don't want to take your eyes off of when he's hitting."