Aaron Judge HR Walks It Off! NY 2 Tampa 0

May 25, 2026 paperbacklou 2026 0
Aaron Judge hits his league-leading 17th HR of the season to walk off the win in the 9th.

Ryan Weathers pitched 7 shutout innings and Aaron Judge hit a walk-off, 2-run HR in the bottom of the 9th to give the Yankees a 2-0 win over Tampa on an overcast, 60-degree Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium — the grounds wet from a day and a half of solid rain that postponed the prior day’s game.

Judge also made a tremendous diving catch in the 8th to save a run, followed a batter later by Cody Bellinger throwing out a runner at 3rd to end the inning a half second before the lead runner slid into home. Afterwards Bellinger credited Ryan McMahon for a great pick at 3rd. Those plays saved Fernando Cruz. Tim Hill pitched in and out of trouble for a shutout 9th.

It was a Huge win for the Yanks as they finally beat red-hot Tampa, after having lost to them the prior 4 times this year.

The HR for Judge was his 17th — he is now tied again for the AL lead. Judge, who just missed a game-tying HR in the 9th the game before, got 2 hits on the day and appears to be coming out of a minor slump which had caused him to go 11 straight games without a HR and 4 straight games (15 at bats) without a hit. It was also Judge’s 16th HR in “high leverage” situations since 2022, tied for the MLB lead.

“He’s literally one of the best hitters of all time,” said Cody Bellinger afterwards about Aaron Judge.

“Just trying to do the job,” said Judge. “Shoutout to Grisham in front of me — saw a lot of pitches, made my job easier; just trying to hit something to the right side — really just trying to get the runner into scoring position.”

On the throw to 3rd, Bellinger said, “That was all Mac. I picked my head up and Mac had a huge target at 3rd. I actually threw a pretty nasty sinker at him he did a great job of picking it. That was just a great play by Mac.”

NY improves to 31-22 and pulls back within 4.5 of Tampa, which falls to 34-16 — the best record by far in baseball.

1. Mighty Nice Weathers

Put your obligatory Weather pun here, with Ryan Weathers pitching great on a gloomy, overcast, wet day.

Weathers did it again — no matter the weather — pitching another great game for NY. What a winter pickup he’s been — signed to be an insurance starter with Carlos Rodon and Gerrit Cole expected to miss the first month or two of the season as they recuperated from surgeries. They are back now but Weathers has solidified himself in the starting rotation, along with Cam Schlittler and Will Warren. He may go to the pen when Max Fried returns from injury — but until then is one of the best starters on the staff.

Weathers pitched 7 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, striking out 4 and walking 3 — locked in a pitchers’ duel with Drew Rasmussen. Like Rasmussen, he didn’t get a decision but lowered his ERA — he is now 2-2 3.14.

Weather’s wasn’t perfect — but kept the other side at zero.

He pitched around a 1-out single in the 1st, and a 1-out double in the 2nd.

In the 3rd, he walked the leadoff batter Carson Williams — but picked him off 1st.

Weathers then allowed consecutive singles to Yandy Diaz and Jonathan Aranda — but got Junior Caminero to hit into a double play to end the inning.

Weathers pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 4th, worked around a 1-out walk in the 5th, a 2-out walk in the 6th, and finished with a 1-2-3 shutout 7th.

2. Rasmussen Good Too in Pitchers’ Duel

Unlike prior years when Tampa won due to a strong pen and pieced-together starting staff, this year they have a strong starting pitching staff — led by Drew Rasmussen their Ace.

Rasmussen was a brilliant young prospect that Tampa acquired from Milwaukee as the main piece of the Willy Adames deal in 2021. He went 4-1 2.84 as a rookie for Tampa in 2021, had a terrific 2nd year in 2022 (11-7 2.84), then lost most of 2023 and 2024 with Tommy John surgery before rebounding last year with a 10-5 2.76 record.

He is now 4-1 2.78 this year after pitching 7 shutout innings in this game, and not getting a decision.

Rasmussen scattered 5 hits and a walk while striking out 6.

The hits were to Aaron Judge with 1 out in the 1st, Jazz Chisholm Jr. with 2 outs in the 2nd, Trent Grisham with 2 outs in the 3rd, Cody Bellinger with 1 out in the 4th (Bellinger was thrown out trying to steal 2nd), and Trent Grisham (again) leading off the 6th — erased on a double play.

Rasmussen pitched a 1-2-3 shutout 7th and so the game went to the 8th with a 0-0 score.

3. Judge & Bellinger Defense Save Yanks in 8th

Fernando Cruz came into the 0-0 tie in the top of the 8th, and got an popout but then allowed a double to Yandy Diaz. Oliver Dunn came in to run for Diaz, as he was the important lead run of the game.

Jonathan Aranda then lined the ball to right — and Aaron Judge made a tremendous catch to save a run.

Fernando Cruz then intentionally walked Junior Caminero.

With runners on 1st and 2nd and 2 out, Ryan Vilade singled to left — seemingly to put Tampa ahead 1-0. But Cody Bellinger rifled a throw to 3rd, nabbing Caminero — ENDING THE INNING A HALF SECOND BEFORE Oliver Dunn scored at home!

4. Hill Pitches In & Out of Trouble for Shutout 9th

Kevin Kelly pitched the bottom of the 8th for Tampa, and allowed a 1-out single to Ryan McMahon but got Austin Wells to hit into a double play.

Tim Hill pitched the top of the 9th — allowing a 1-out walk and 2 out single to Cedric Mullins to put runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs again just like the 8th. This time Tim Hill struck out Jose Palacios on a 1-2 slider and we were to the bottom of the 9th in the 0-0 tie.

5. Judge HR Walks It Off

Kevin Kelly stayed in to pitch the bottom of the 9th, and got ahead of lefty Trent Grisham 0-2, before Grisham took several close but just-outside pitches to draw a walk.

And that brought up Aaron Judge who hit a first-pitch, 92-MPH sinker 363 feet to opposite field right for a game-winning, walk-off HR and the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401815477

 

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