It’s good to be the Judge.
Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor blasted a 1-1 pitch from New York Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka to deep right field, and it appeared headed for the seats, but All-Star outfielder Aaron Judge tracked the ball from the crack of the bat and timed his reach perfectly to take away the home run.
#AllRise: Aaron Judge ROBS a home run. pic.twitter.com/zxMrimwC5s
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) October 9, 2017
The 6-foot-7 Judge smiled as he threw the ball back into the field because his catch helped keep the game scoreless heading into the bottom of the sixth inning in Game 3 of the 2017 American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium.
The Indians had their lead-off runner on base when catcher Roberto Perez flared a two-strike pitch from Tanaka into left field, but a lineout from third baseman Giovanny Urshela, the Lindor fly out and Jason Kipnis flying out to his counterpart in center field for the final out of the inning.
The sixth inning was the second time in which the Indians looked to be in business against Tanaka.
In the top of the fourth inning, center fielder Jason Kipnis smashed a triple off of Judge’s glove with one out, but Tanaka struck out second baseman Jose Ramirez and right fielder Jay Bruce to end the threat and keep the game scoreless.
Despite having several pitches bounce in the dirt, Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez kept every ball in front of him, and also, threw down to first baseman Greg Bird to retire Ramirez for the second out of the inning.
