MLB: Judge's shortest HR of career lifts Yanks; Bullpen bails out Red Sox after early ejections

May 21, 2025 by Dave Congrove, CollegeFootballPoll.com

A 326-foot wall-scraper of a home run by Aaron Judge became the shortest of his career, but the 2-run shot helped propel the New York Yankees to a 5-2 win in the Bronx over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.

How short was the "blast" off Judge's bat? Well, it would've only been a homer in 3 other parks and one of those is the temporary home of the Tampa Bay Rays which happens to be George M. Steinbrenner field that shares the same dimensions as the old Yankee Stadium. The other two are Fenway and Oracle.

No matter where it landed, it still counted as the left-fielders' 16th home run which leads the AL by one over Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh, but trails the 17 slugged by a pair of designated hitters on the NL side, Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Meanwhile, Judge's batting average continues to decline from .431 on May 14 to .410 on May 21, and now down to .403. Don't get me wrong - we'd all love to hit .403. And Judge would love to hit more bombs that are securely over the fence, but he wasn't going to give Tuesday night's "shorty" back. “I was kind of blowing it out right there,” Judge said. “You’re hoping it sneaks over.”

The Yankees (28-19) have won 9 of their last 12 and stretched their AL East lead over Boston (25-25) to 4-1/2 games as the Red Sox keep splitting wins and losses and gaining no momentum.

Last night against the New York Mets at Fenway, BoSox starting pitcher Walker Buehler (no relation to Ferris) and manager Alex Cora were both ejected in the third inning for foul language and disrespect toward the umpire. Buehler profanely disagreed with Mike Estabrook's assessment of his pitches and suggested, not so politely, that Estabrook should go have intimate relations with himself after a 1-0 pitch to Juan Soto was called a ball when replay showed it safely in the lower left corner of the zone. The ejection made a short night's work for the righty who just came off the 15-day injured list.

The Mets' Francisco Lindor swiped second on the pitch, too.

Cora got involved and told Mike Estabrook that his calls resembled a brown emoji, so he also got thumbed.

It didn't matter in the end as a platoon of relievers and a pair of solo shots by Carlos Narvaez and Rafeal Devers were enough for a series-clinching win over the New York Mets. Regardless, Buehler expressed some regret for the incident, saying, "I put them in a really tough spot. I've been in this league too long for that to happen."

Brennan Bernardino (1.2 innings), Garrett Whitlock (1.0), Justin Wilson (0.2), Greg Weisser (0.2), Justin Slaten 1.2) and Aroldis Chapman (1.0) combined to surrender only four hits and three walks.

Tonight (6:45 ET) , Boston can secure its first sweep since polishing-off the Cardinals in the third series of the year. It's worth noting that the Red Sox are also one of six teams that have not been swept themselves, along with the Diamondbacks, Reds, Mets, Yankees and Giants.

“Watching us play and win a tight 2-0 game, and a tight game last night, I think this is hopefully some sort of turning point for us,” Buehler said.

Boston is clinging to a half-game edge over the Toronto Blue Jays in the early battle for second in the division.

Sources for this article include the following:
Bullpen saves Sox after heated ejections for Buehler, Cora
Judge visits short porch with shortest career HR as supporting cast steps up
MLB Sweeps by Year