Aaron Judge Robbed a Home Run Like It Was the Easiest Thing in the World

In Friday’s Hot Clicks: an amazing defensive play from one of baseball’s best offensive players, Denmark and Belgium’s tribute to Christian Eriksen and more.

He isn’t just a slugger

If you’re a fan of good defense, Thursday night’s Yankees–Blue Jays game was the game for you.

New York prevailed 8–4 to stretch its winning streak to three games thanks to home runs by Giancarlo Stanton and Gio Urshela and a clutch pinch-hit single by rookie Chris Gittens. The Yankees’ gloves kept the Blue Jays in check, too.

In the first inning, starter Michael King got out of a jam thanks to some awful Toronto baserunning that resulted in a triple play.

Urshela flashed the glove, too. In the fourth, he ranged deep to his right to snare a grounder off the bat of Lourdes Gurriel Jr., then delivered an off-balance throw from foul territory right on the money all the way across the diamond.

The icing on the cake was a clutch home run robbery by Aaron Judge. The Yankees were trailing by one when Cavan Biggio stepped up in the sixth with one runner on and sent a towering flyball out to rightfield. It would have stretched the Toronto lead to three if Judge had not played it perfectly.

He made that look so easy. The fact that he did not break his stride before jumping in just the exact right place is outrageous. Only he can make that play. He needed to jump high enough to reach his arm back far behind the wall and bring the ball back. No one else in baseball has the combination of size and athleticism necessary to pull that off.

The play even impressed a couple of great defensive outfielders.

Stanton, who gave the Yankees the lead in the top of the next inning with a two-run homer, credited Judge with turning the game around.

‘That was crazy. That was an awesome play,” Stanton told reporters. “It definitely took the energy out of that other dugout, too. So, huge play and definitely part of the reason why we won.”

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