Highlights:
- New York Yankee’s Aaron Judge rejected a $213.5 million contract extension from the team.
- The Yankees defeated the Twins 5-4 on Wednesday in the first game of a doubleheader
- The Yankees swept the doubleheader with a 7-1 victory in Game 2.
A seven-year, $213.5 million contract extension from the New York Yankees was rejected by Judge in the latter half of 2022. With that agreement, the now 30-year-old would have received one of the most significant salaries in MLB history. However, Judge opted to play out this season and see what he could command in the free-agent market because he believed he was worth more. No one made a more significant wager than Judge in a time when the expression “bet on yourself” has grown overused. And the wager is yielding profits.
The Yankees defeated the Twins 5-4 on Wednesday in the first game of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium thanks to home runs from Gleyber Torres and Aaron Judge, both of whom hit their major league-leading 55th blast.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a game-tying RBI single off Trevor Megill to start the 12th inning. Later in the inning, Cabrera smashed an RBI single to end the Yankees’ 0-for-25 skid, secure the team’s 82nd victory of the year, their 30th straight winning campaign (since 1993), and the Major League-leading 14th walk-off victory of the year.
.@TheJudge44 is not slowing down. #AllRise pic.twitter.com/vc4CvLZ6xY
— MLB (@MLB) September 5, 2022
The rally started after New York was defeated in the 11th inning when Marwin Gonzalez grounded out and Ronald Guzmán hit a bases-loaded double play. In the 12th, Minnesota took the lead thanks to a run-scoring single from Gilberto Celestino off of Ron Marinaccio. Greg Weissert recorded the final two outs of that inning.
Cabrera became the first Yankees rookie since Mike Ford on September 1, 2019, against Oakland to have a walk-off hit. After Judge overtook Alex Rodriguez (54 in 2007) to set a new Yankees record for most single-season home runs by a right-handed batter, Torres struck a game-tying two-run homer in the sixth inning.
In the fourth inning, Judge faced Twins rookie Louie Varland and blasted a changeup for a solo drive over the left-field fence, cutting the Yanks’ lead to 3-1. According to Statcast, Judge’s bat swung the ball 374 feet at 102.1 mph.
The Yankees swept the doubleheader with a 7-1 victory in Game 2. Judge noted, “I was happy to get a run on the board; That’s all I can really say. The rookie was making his debut, and kind of had us shut down there for a little bit. He had a good quick pace, working all of his pitches. It kind of got some stuff going, got this offence going a little bit.”
Judge homered in four straight contests for the second time in his career. Aaron went deep in five consecutive games from July 29 to August 2, 2020. The slugger is on track to eclipse Roger Maris’ American League record with 65 home runs this season.