The Yankees completed the sweep of the Chicago White Sox on Sunday with a 5-4 win, as slugger Aaron Judge got his first-career walk-off.
Judge spoke to reporters after the win, and gave his thought process at the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning in a tied game.
“Win it, anyway possible,” Judge said. “The guys in front of me had some great at-bats. [Clint] Frazier driving the ball, getting on base, stealing. Especially [Tyler] Wade in front of me, infield little knock right there to load it up. It was good at-bats all around, so for me it was my turn to go up there, drive a ball in the gap or do whatever it takes. I was just trying to get something over the plate, and win it for the team.”
White Sox closer Liam Hendriks came in to pitch against Judge in a tough situation with one out, and wound up walking in the game-winning run. Hendricks is 1-1 this season with nine saves, 28 strikeouts, and a 2.50 ERA. Judge mentioned that he’s happy with the result against the 2020 AL Reliver of the Year.
“Yeah legitimate walk off,” Judge said. “Not really, but we’ll take it. I’m not complaining one bit. Especially against a pitcher like that who’s had quite a bit of success, one of the top closers in the game. We’ll take anyway we can against him.”
Frazier got his first start since May 17 against the Texas Rangers, as the outfielder was dealing with a neck issue the couple of days. He went 3-for-4 with the game-winning run scored against the White Sox, including a leadoff single in the ninth to get the rally started.
“Had a lot of time to continue to watch some of my past at-bats, and try to find out how I can incorporate what I was doing well back then to what I’m trying to do today,” Frazier said. “It felt good. I felt good from the jump, so I’m just glad to be in the lineup and try to come up big whenever I get the opportunity.”
The Yankees have now won six-straight games, and are now 16-5 in the month of May. Despite having the worst start to a season since 1997 after going 5-10, the Yanks have turned it around and Frazier mentioned that the team stuck together and didn’t panic.
“I think it goes to show that early in the season a lot of people were panicking, but we weren’t,” Frazier said. “And there’s a reason why in this series and the last, I don’t know how many we’ve won in a row, are a great example of what this team is capable of and sometimes you just got to be patient and you get the results that we’re having right now.”