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Juan Soto and Aaron Judge may have just woke up the Yankees.
The two stars delivered a massive 1-2 punch against the Orioles on Saturday, blasting back-to-back home runs in the top of the fifth inning to break open a pivotal midseason game against their AL East rival.
New York already led 4-1 when Soto stepped into the batter’s box. He drove an 83-mph change-up from Baltimore starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez 426 yards to centerfield to extend the lead.
Five pitches later, Judge hit his 34th home run of the season to give New York a 6-1 advantage.
NFL Network’s Rich Eichen noted Judge’s 34 home runs are the most by a Yankees batter before the All-Star break in franchise history.
In 2022, when he set an AL record with 62 home runs, Judge hit 33 long balls before the Midsummer Classic.
His and Soto’s big inning is massive for a Yankees team that has struggled over the last month of the season.
In mid-June, New York looked like arguably the best team in baseball. However, entering Saturday, the Yankees (8-18) had the major’s worst record since June 13. Per FanGraphs, Yankees pitchers had a 5.46 earned run average during that span, the second-worst ERA in the league.
The Orioles (5.14) team ERA ranked only one spot above the Yankees during that span, and Soto and Judge took advantage of their struggling staff.
That shouldn’t surprise anyone. Despite the team’s struggles, the Yanks’ stars have been outstanding for most of the season.
Soto entered Saturday leading the league in walks (79) and on-base percentage (.432) while hitting 22 home runs. Judge led the league in home runs, runs batted in (84) and slugging percentage (.674).
Baltimore (57-38, .600 win percentage) opened the day with a one-game lead in the division. With the 6-1 win, New York (58-39, .598) moved into a virtual tie for first.
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