Aaron Judge celebrated his return to the Sacramento area with two home runs on Saturday, although his team, the New York Yankees, did not achieve victory against the Athletics. With these home runs, Judge extended his lead in the Major Leagues to 14.
This was the first time Judge played in the Sacramento area since his college days, in the Yankees’ first visit to the Athletics’ temporary home, near the California capital.
Judge, born in Sacramento and raised in Linden, was supported by family and friends in the crowd of 12,113 people present at the minor league park that houses the Athletics.
It just felt like being at home. Every time we play the A’s, it’s always something familiar and close to my home. It was special.
Aaron Judge
After an initial game where he connected a hit in four turns, with a walk and two near home runs, Judge lived up to expectations on Saturday, in an 11-7 victory for the home team.
In the fourth inning, Judge hit a home run against JP Sears and repeated the feat in the sixth, this time against Justin Sterner, to the delight of the Yankees fans, who chanted “MVP! MVP!”
Not surprising. Making big swings as always, once again. He’s a really good player.
Carlos Rodon
Judge’s second home run was the 14th of the season and the 41st multi-home run game of his career, the fourth in Yankees history.
Judge leads Major League Baseball in batting average (.396), on-base percentage (.486), slugging percentage (.772), home runs, and runs batted in (37).
When the Athletics announced their plans to play in this minor league park last season, owner John Fisher expressed his excitement to see the performance of players like Judge in a stadium known for its offense.
We are excited to be here for the next three years playing in this beautiful stadium, but also to be able to see some of the best baseball players, whether they are Athletics players or Aaron Judge and others, hit home runs from this very intimate park, the most intimate in all of Major League Baseball.
John Fisher
The game was marked by high offensive production, with a total of six home runs. One of them, a three-run homer by Shea Langeliers for the A’s, surprised pitcher Fernando Cruz.
It’s the same for all of us. It’s the same for the other team, the same for me, the same for my other teammates. We just have to come back tomorrow and do the same, pitch and locate a little better.
Fernando Cruz
Games at this ballpark, which was previously only used in the Pacific Coast League (Triple-A), have averaged a combined 2.75 home runs per game, an increase of more than 40% compared to the number of home runs last season at the Oakland Coliseum.
I’m sure as the summer goes on and the heat goes up, PCL is known for that. I’d be speaking out of turn if I said I know how this place is going to play. Today was a little different.
Aaron Boone
