Aaron Judge finally hits the big one and the Yankees reach Game 4

It was fun listening to Yankees fans complain about Aaron Judge’s failures in clutch situations during October. It was hard to believe that such a dominant player could play so poorly in the Postseason, but the expectations are high when you play for the same franchise as Mr. October and Mr. November. All good things must come to an end, though, and on Tuesday night, Judge finally came through with a massive home run to save the Yankees from elimination.

It was only a matter of time before Judge finally did something incredible during October, but what made his game-tying laser beam especially wild was that it came on a 100 mph 0-2 fastball that was off the plate inside. I have no idea how this man turned on this pitch and somehow kept it fair. If you look at the count, the velocity, and the location, it’s one of the craziest home runs ever hit.

Judge is well on his way to living up to Derek Jeter’s legacy of the media kissing his rear end every fall. Before the heroics, the Yankees appeared done for. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-run home run in the first inning to put Toronto on top, and a string of singles in the third inning plated four more runs and chased Carlos Rodon from the ballgame. The Yankees began their rise in the bottom of the frame with Judge hitting an RBI double and Giancarlo Stanton following with a sac fly. After Judge tied the game in the fourth, Jazz Chisholm hit a monster solo shot in the fifth to give New York the lead, and Austin Wells followed with an RBI single to make it three straight crooked numbers for the Yankees.

The Blue Jays might end up kicking themselves for letting the Yankees off the ropes. Cam Schlittler is back on the bump tonight for the first time since his Wild Card masterpiece. It’s no wonder why New York is a -185 favorite tonight.

The other Wild Card game on Tuesday saw another AL MVP candidate hit a home run while the Mariners cruised to victory behind a strong Logan Gilbert start and retook homefield advantage from the Tigers.

Cal Raleigh’s home run wasn’t as clutch as Judge’s, but you know who was clutch? The guy who caught the home run after it bounced in the bullpen.

Gilbert AKA Walter allowed just one run on four hits in six innings and left with a 5-1 lead thanks to Seattle scoring two runs each in the third and fourth innings off of Detroit start Jack Flaherty. The Mariners have a chance to advance to the ALCS with another win this afternoon. All four Division Series are in action today, with the Brewers, Blue Jays, and Dodgers also having a shot to move on.

I’m glad there is so much baseball on, because the start of NHL season was miserable for me. The Rangers allowed Pittsburgh’s Justin Brazeau to score late in the first period and never found an answer. The Penguins ended up winning 3-0 with a pair of late empty-net goals and Latvian goalie Arturs Silovs stopped all 25 New York shots for his first career shutout.

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