MILWAUKEE — Credit Aaron Judge’s left hand for its first save of the season.
The Yankees captain’s outstretched hand as he slid into second base in the sixth inning bore the brunt of Willy Adames’ attempted throw to first, breaking up what would have been a double play.
One popout later, the Brewers should have been out of the inning in a tie game.
Instead, Judge’s large paw — made a bit bigger with the oven mitt he was wearing that doubles as a protective glove while running the bases — gave the Yankees an extra life.
They took advantage and then some.
With two outs, the Yankees exploded for a seven-run rally, overwhelming the Brewers for a second straight day to claim the series with a 15-5 win on Sunday afternoon at American Family Field.
Between Saturday and Sunday, the Yankees (19-10) relentlessly piled up 30 runs on 37 hits, showing more signs of breaking out in full — and again doing the majority of their damage before a position player closed out the ninth for the Brewers (17-10) for a second straight game.
All nine members of the starting lineup on Sunday had at least one hit, with Anthony Rizzo’s 4-for-4 day leading the way — including his 300th career home run, a two-run shot in the eighth inning.
The home run was Rizzo’s fourth in his last six games.
Judge (3-for-4, three RBIs) also homered for a second straight day and Anthony Volpe added a three-run shot on his 23rd birthday, though both of those came before the seven-run outburst.
Marcus Stroman struggled with his command across four-plus innings in which he walked a season-high five and gave up a three-run homer to ex-Yankee Jake Bauers that tied the game 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth.
But the Yankees immediately regained the lead in the top of the sixth, courtesy of Judge’s hand.
He had walked to lead off the inning before Alex Verdugo hit a tailor-made double play ball to second base.
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Brice Turang threw to second for the force out, but as he slid into the base, the 6-foot-7 Judge put his hand up — not an unusual motion during a slide — with Adames’ throw to first clanging right off of it.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy argued that Judge interfered on the play, but the umpires convened and deemed it fair game.
One out later, Rizzo drew a walk before Gleyber Torres came through with a single up the middle to put the Yankees up 5-4.
Oswaldo Cabrera then walked and Jose Trevino followed with a two-run single to make it 7-4.
After Volpe drew a four-pitch walk, Juan Soto roped an RBI single and Judge — who was booed heavily as he came to the plate for a second time in the inning — capped off the rally with a two-run single for the 11-4 lead.
The Yankees added on two runs apiece in the seventh and eighth innings, including Rizzo’s milestone home run in the eighth.