After a nine-game hiatus, the Yankees are back in the win column. They can thank their captain for that.
The Bombers defeated a sloppy Nationals team, 9-1, on Wednesday night after enduring the franchise’s worst losing streak since 1982. Aaron Judge homered three times in the victory, while Luis Severino shined on the mound.
Judge’s 25th dinger of the season came in the first inning, when he belted a MacKenzie Gore pitch to the Toyota Terrace, which lies beyond the Yankees’ bullpen in right-centerfield at Yankee Stadium. The home run traveled 431 feet and 111.3 miles per hour, but it was hardly Judge’s biggest blast of the night.
That came in the second inning when he clubbed a grand slam off of Gore. Judge’s 26th home run went 437 feet at 112.8 mph and all but assured the end of the Yankees’ losing streak.
But the slugger wasn’t done yet, as Judge took Jose A. Ferrer over the right field wall in the seventh inning for his 28th home run of the season. In doing so, No. 99 logged the 34th three-homer game in Yankees history and the first of his career.
Judge also became just the second Yankee ever with at least 25 home runs in six of his first eight seasons. Joe DiMaggio, who accomplished the feat in seven of his first eight campaigns, is the other member of the exclusive club.
The Yankees scored an additional run in the second on a fielder’s choice and another in the seventh on a solo home run from DJ LeMahieu, which immediately preceded Judge’s last longball. Nationals right fielder Stone Garrett hurt himself crashing into the wall on LeMahieu’s home run and had to leave the game on a cart.
Anthony Volpe added an RBI single before the seventh inning ended.
While Gore surrendered two of Judge’s homers, he only earned two runs on the night thanks to the Nationals’ poor defense. The team made two errors in the game.
Gore, 24, finished the night after four innings, four hits, six runs, two earned, one walk, four strikeouts and 80 pitches.
Severino, meanwhile, needed a strong start as badly as his team needed a win. He delivered and then some.
Severino, who entered the day with a 7.98 ERA, threw one of his best games of the year, holding the Nats to just one hit over 6.2 scoreless frames. The righty, who had not recorded an out in the seventh inning since May 27, also walked and struck out two over 97 pitches before exiting to a loud ovation.
Severino, who has called himself baseball’s worst pitcher this season, tipped his cap in appreciation.
Washington’s Dominic Smith hit a solo homer off Wandy Peralta in the ninth to get the Nats on the board, but that hardly affected the final result.
With Judge’s power display and Severino’s gem in the rearview, the Yankees will look to start a new streak on Thursday. A victory would give them their second series win since July began.
The Yankees, now 61-65, began Wednesday 10 games out of the final wild card spot. They had not announced their Thursday pitching plans at the time of publication.
Patrick Corbin will start the series finale for Washington.
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