KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Aaron Judge homered again Friday night in the Yankees’ 12-2, eight-inning, rain-shortened victory over the Royals.
It was Judge’s fifth home run during the Yankees’ seven-game winning streak and his third in his last four games.
But don’t tell Judge or manager Aaron Boone the outfielder has found his swing.
“I’m still trying to get there,’’ Judge said. “I’m grinding out. I’m just focused on getting on base for the guys behind me.”
Judge said he’d like to get more consistent, but the results have been eye-popping of late.
In his last nine games, Judge is 12-for-35 with a pair of doubles, five homers and 12 RBIs. His OPS has jumped to .961, second only to Anthony Rizzo on the team.
Since 2020, the Yankees are 37-9 when Judge homers.
Boone agreed that Judge is “grinding,” but has been impressed by what he has seen lately.
“It speaks to how good a player he is,’’ Boone said. “That was a ‘big boy’ homer the other way [Friday]. He’s pretty good.”
Miguel Andujar has been back with the Yankees for four days, but has yet to crack the starting lineup.
“I almost played him [Friday],’’ Boone said of the lineup against the Royals. “I want to get him in there. … I think he’s in the best place he’s been in a couple years and I don’t like not having him in there, but it’s a little challenge right now. I want to get other guys in, too.”
DJ LeMahieu was at third base and Tim Locastro was in left field, with Joey Gallo and Josh Donaldson both getting the day out of the lineup.
Andujar, who pinch-hit for Judge in the eighth and grounded out, had been hitting well with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, which is why he was recalled to take Aaron Hicks’ spot when Hicks went on the paternity list and missed three games.
Hicks returned to the lineup and center field on Friday.
“It’s a good problem to have right now,’’ Boone said of his options. “It was a little tougher [Friday].”
Boone acknowledged Andujar was a consideration to be optioned back to SWB when Hicks returned, but the team sent down right-hander Ron Marinaccio instead after the rookie struggled in a rough outing on Thursday against the Orioles in The Bronx.
Boone said it made more sense to have another position player available and they wanted to get Marinaccio more opportunities to get on the mound than he was getting with the Yankees.
Gerrit Cole will be looking for his second straight good start after three clunkers to open the season when he faces the Royals on Saturday.
Asked Friday what he could take from his last outing, when he blanked Cleveland for 6 ²/₃ innings, struck out nine and lowered his ERA from 6.35 to 4.00, Cole said, “Just staying on the attack, really.”
He admitted to not being “immune” to feeling some pressure after his rough start to the season, which got especially ugly when he walked four batters in a second inning in Detroit that he didn’t survive on April 19.