SAN FRANCISCO — Aaron Judge capped a spectacular May by homering twice in his first game in San Francisco and the New York Yankees beat the Giants 6-2 on Friday night.
Judge grew up about 100 miles away in Linden and was heavily recruited in free agency by the Giants in December 2022, but decided to remain with the Yankees and signed a nine-year, $360 million contract.
He was greeted by boos in each at-bat Friday night, but took little time to show the Giants and their fans what they missed out on when he spurned them in free agency.
After hitting a single in the first inning, Judge launched a three-run shot to left field in the third against Jordan Hicks (4-2) and then another solo shot in the sixth to give him a major league-leading 20 homers.
Most of that damage has come in May with Judge hitting 14 homers and 12 doubles with 29 RBI. His 26 extra-base hits are the most by any Yankees player in a month since Joe DiMaggio had 31 in July 1937 and this is just the eighth time since the end of World War II that any player in the majors had that many extra-base hits in any month.
He is also the first player in MLB history to reach 35 career multi-homer games in fewer than 1,000 career games, according to ESPN Stats and Information research.
Judge’s bat has helped carry the Yankees to 14 wins in their last 18 games, as they have become the fourth team ever to reach 40 wins before June 1.
He provided more than enough support for Marcus Stroman (5-2), who allowed two runs in 7 1/3 innings to get the win. The Yankees tied a franchise record set in 1981 with their 18th straight start with a pitcher going at least five innings and allowing three runs or fewer.
Judge now leads the majors with 20 homers this season, a tally that equals Mickey Mantle in 1956 and Tino Martinez in 1997 for the most homers in Yankees history before June.
That is also quite a change from the start of the month, when Judge had a .207 average in March and April along with plenty of questions about the slow start.
While everyone else might have been worried, Judge maintained an even keel.
“Can’t sit there feeling sorry for yourself when things aren’t going right. Still have games to play and win. Just try to stay consistent and help the team win,” he said after Thursday night’s 8-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels. “I feel like every season I have one of those months where things just aren’t going your way. It was tough that it had to be April in the beginning, especially with the type of team we have and how good we are.”
Among his feats, he joins Albert Belle (Aug. 1995) as the only players in MLB history with 14-plus homers and 12-plus doubles in a month, according to ESPN Stats and Information.
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this story.