Aaron Judge, Elly De La Cruz Shared Cool Moment on Basepaths During Reds-Yankees

Kristen Wong | Jul 3, 2024

Screengrab on Twitter/ @MLB

Elly De La Cruz and Aaron Judge brought nothing but good vibes during the Cincinnati Reds’ 5-4 win over the New York Yankees on Tuesday.

De La Cruz and Judge each knocked one out of the park in the Bronx, marking the Reds phenom’s first homer at Yankee Stadium and the Yankees slugger’s league-leading 32nd home run. While the two stars took turns wowing fans at the plate, they also found themselves, literally, face-to-face with each other during one fun moment on the base paths.

In the bottom of the first inning, Yankees’ Alex Verdugo hit a weak ground ball that rolled to Cincinnati's Jonathan India in center field. India tossed it to De La Cruz, who stood at second base patiently waiting to tag the incoming base runner.

Judge tried to slide to safety, but realizing he wasn’t going to make it, stopped just short of the base.

De La Cruz kept his glove hovering above Judge for a few seconds before Judge reached up and dapped him, turning what would have been a run-of-the-mill out into a cool moment.

"Tag you're it!" - Elly De La Cruz, probably pic.twitter.com/NRyxHHU6c7

— MLB (@MLB) July 2, 2024

Game respects game.

In his 183rd big-league game, De La Cruz tripled in the fourth and hit a two-run homer in the fifth to help the Reds hand the Yankees their 11th loss in their last 15 games. The Reds star has tripled and homered in the same game five times this season, joining Ted Williams as the only player since 1901 to achieve that feat in the first 185 games of their big-league career.

Judge, meanwhile, went 3-for-4 on Tuesday and is on pace to eclipse his own American League record for most home runs in a season, set at 62 in 2022.