Aaron Judge banishes cold streak, saves Yankees vs. Rays

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May 24, 2026 - 20:34

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Aaron Judge banishes cold streak, saves Yankees vs. Rays originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

To be Aaron Judge is to be permanently capable of immense damage.

It didn't matter on Sunday that Judge was in the coldest stretch of his entire MLB career with the New York Yankees. This is still Judge, and so there was always danger for the Tampa Bay Rays when the 6-foot-7 slugger stepped to the plate in a 0-0 game in the bottom of the ninth.

Yes, there was a runner on first, but that proved pretty inconsequential.

Judge somehow got his hands inside the baseball on a pitch on the inner part of the plate and powered it toward right-center.

The baseball didn't land until it was beyond the fence.

A two-run, walk-off home run for Judge, and a party for the Yanks.

AARON JUDGE ENDS IT 👨‍⚖️

WALK-OFF HOME RUN IN THE BRONX pic.twitter.com/yxFisjdpmo— MLB (@MLB) May 24, 2026

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The Rays are the hottest team in baseball and are in the lead in the AL East Division, so this is a statement swing by Judge.

Essentially, he's reminding them that even as good as they are, they don't have this all-time great wearing No. 99 in the heart of their lineup. The Yankees do.

That might not slow the Rays down much, but it's a huge boost of confidence for Judge, who had an OPS below .400 over the past couple weeks.

One swing could be all it takes to get the big fella rolling again. Even if he needs a bit more waking up, this is something. It's evidence of greatness, and of the fact that Judge can't be held down for long.

On Sunday, it didn't matter how cold Judge had been. He was exactly who the Yankees needed in the box.