Judge’s clutch tying HR in 9th sets stage for Volpe walk-off

When the Yankees needed a big hit most, it was no surprise that Aaron Judge came through. The reigning AL MVP’s clutch game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday night set the stage for Anthony Volpe’s first career walk-off RBI, and the Yanks took the opener of a critical series in the Bronx against the Orioles, 6-5.

In a game the Yankees were trailing by four runs early, the offense slowly chipped away and gave their slugger a chance against Baltimore’s shutdown closer Félix Bautista. Judge deposited an 0-2 splitter 403 feet to left-center field to tie the game, and though they could not complete the comeback in that frame, the Yanks wasted little time in the bottom of the 10th.

After Michael King got through a clean top of the frame with two strikeouts, Harrison Bader led off the bottom of the inning with a groundout that moved the automatic runner to third. Willie Calhoun was intentionally walked to get to the rookie Volpe, who lifted a sacrifice fly plenty deep enough to center field to kick off a celebration in the Bronx.

The Yankees secured their 30th win of the season and now trail second-place Baltimore by only two games in the AL East standings.