Soto is the Yankees' hero; Judge's home run drought is now 16 games

NEW YORK – Juan Soto, one half of the New York Yankees' historic offensive tandem, added another memorable highlight to his 2024 record Thursday night by delivering a walk-off single in the decisive 2-1 10-inning win over the Boston Red Sox after earlier hitting an electrifying home run with a throbbing foot.

The other half, meanwhile, is stuck in an unusually long home run drought.

After hitting home runs at an unfathomable pace for nearly four months, Aaron Judge has now been kept in the ballpark for the 16th consecutive season. Since hitting two home runs against the Colorado Rockies on August 25, Judge has hit 51 home runs, which is a major league record.

The favorite for American League MVP extended his career-long home run streak by hitting 1-for-4 with a single and some pitching. Judge hit two 99.9 mph flyouts — one of which traveled 381 feet to center field at Yankee Stadium — and hit a 104.7 mph one-hopper that Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers grabbed to set up a double play. Judge's single — at 88.1 mph — was his weakest hit of the night.

“He's hit 51 home runs,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “And tonight he only missed one. He hit a ball that Devers played incredibly well. Turning the ball into a double play was about the best play you could imagine. So, I mean, home runs still come in droves even for guys like that and there are those periods. I guess it's amazing that he avoided those, but that's just a testament to how good a hitter he is and how much power he has.”

Since August 26, Judge has posted a slash average of .207/.352/.259. The 16-game sample resembles Judge's slow start to the season; the 32-year-old center fielder posted a slash average of .200/.336/.392 with six home runs in 34 games through May 3.

Then, two days later, Judge was ejected from a game for the first time in his career. In the 94 games following the ejection through August 25, Judge's statistics were obscene. He had a batting average of .382 with 45 home runs, 103 RBIs and an OPS of 1.379 in 420 at-bats.

Teams went from pitching around him to avoiding him entirely, with treatment not seen since Barry Bonds' heyday. And yet he hit nine home runs in the 10 games leading up to August 26, putting him on pace to break his own AL home run record (62).

Nothing since then.

“You saw what happened in April. He had a little trouble and then he started to improve. He'll probably have to be kicked out again,” Nestor Cortes said jokingly. “Seriously, Judge will come out again and then he'll be the right guy for us.”

Soto has been the man for the Yankees the last two nights.

On Wednesday, the right fielder hit a game-winning two-run home run against the Kansas City Royals two pitches after a foul on the ball, which bounced off his right foot and dropped him to his knees. The Yankees eventually won the game 4-3 in 11 innings on a walk-off hit by Jazz Chisholm Jr.

On Thursday, it was Soto's turn to emerge as a walk-off hero after the Yankees' bullpen held the Red Sox scoreless for five innings. Soto, who later admitted his right foot had become stiff as the game went on, began the 10th inning with a designated runner on second base and hit a 2-2 sinker from Josh Winckowski through the infield to score Jon Berti and end a rivalry game with an October atmosphere.

“We all know how much fun October is,” Soto said. “I think we'll keep that going into the last month of the season and try to carry it through to November.”

It was Soto's first walk-off hit in a pinstripe jersey as the Yankees (85-62) doubled their lead over the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East standings to two games and moved past the Cleveland Guardians for the best record in the AL.

For more than two weeks, they have managed to stay at the top of their competition without their captain hitting a home run. Experience shows that it is only a matter of time before that changes.