Aaron Judge hits first-inning home run, puts Yankees ahead of Indians early

Best case scenario? Best case scenario.

The Yankees jumped out to a quick, 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning against the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night. DJ LeMahieu led off with a single, then Aaron Judge lifted a home run to right center of uber-ace Shane Bieber.

Per Statcast, the ball traveled 399 feet with an exit velocity of 108 mph. The dinger came off a flat fastball, too. Good strategy, guys.

That’s exactly the kind of inning the Yankees needed. They proved Bieber is mortal, and they send Gerrit Cole to the mound with a lead. He has some room to get comfortable and pitch without extreme pressure, just the usual Wild Card pressure, I suppose. They couldn’t draw it up any better than that.

Way to go Aaron! Don’t ease up off the gas now. Let’s hope the Bombers can keep the momentum going the rest of the night.