Aaron Judge hits monster home run, puts Yankees ahead of Athletics early

Well, that didn’t take long.

The Yankees jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning of the Wild Card Game thanks to a mammoth home run off the bat of Aaron Judge. The two-run shot followed an Andrew McCutchen leadoff walk, because of course it did. Those two sit atop the order to do this type of damage.

The exit velocity? 116.1 mph. It traveled a total of 427 feet. That ball was crushed. According to Andrew Simon, Judge’s blast was the hardest hit postseason home run since StatCast began tracking data. Just take take a look at it for yourself.

This sort of damage is exactly what the Yankees needed to start the game. It gave the team the lead, and took some pressure off starter Luis Severino. Plus, it got the crowd the right into the thick of things.

Way to go Aaron! Now let’s see if the Yankees can keep the momentum going.