Because Judge’s fly ball ended, it was Josh Donaldson who sealed a meaningful Yankees victory, providing the consolation prize for those aching to see Judge hit his 61st homer. Donaldson’s RBI single in the 10th clinched a 5-4 victory over the Red Sox, sealing the Bombers’ spot in the 2022 postseason. “It’s not over yet, but the chance to get a chance to play postseason baseball is going to be fun,” Donaldson said. “I thought Judgie had it with a homer, but it was nice to be able to come through for the team.” The Yankees are a sixth-straight playoff club — or, to put that in context, a streak that spans each of Judge’s full seasons. They are in their 24th season in 28 years, and Aaron Boone is the first coach to punch a playoff ticket in each of his first five seasons, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. “You never want to take that for granted,” Boone said. “We’re at the dance and we have a chance now.” Simply clinching a postseason berth has never been a goal for this team, which has set its sights on the American East title since the first day of spring. The Yanks’ magic number for the division is six against the Blue Jays, and as such, their celebration in the clubhouse was more of a silent acknowledgment. Donaldson received the team’s gold wrestling style championship belt, indicative of the night’s most valuable contributor. The veteran closed his remarks by telling his teammates, “Welcome back to the playoffs.” “It’s been a lot of hard work over the course of the season to get to this point,” Judge said. “But I think you can ask anyone in this room — the work is not done.” Oh, but it could have been a magical moment, destined for a Yankeeography episode and schmaltzy music borrowed from “The Natural” soundtrack. One swing away from tying Maris’ 61-year-old AL record in a single season, Judge walked in three of his first four plate appearances, hearing fans loudly jeer pitchers who dared not put cookies up the middle. Judge already reminded why he should be the AL MVP in the top of the ninth, throwing off the right-field wall from base to second base that cut off Tommy Pham trying to stretch a single into a double. “You take him away from our team,” Donaldson said, “and we’re probably not sitting in the position we’re in right now.” Judge showed patience at the plate once again in the bottom of the ninth with a 2-2 count against Matt Barnes. The Boston right-hander tried a 95.8 mph fastball that caught too much of the plate in the upper half of the strike zone. Judge opened it up — a cannon blast off his bat at 113 miles per hour — delighting a standing ovation crowd of 43,123 in each of his plate appearances. Judge dropped his bat and pulled at three-quarter speed, hoping he could reach the net over the monuments. Center fielder Kiké Hernández ran back, back, then stopped, his cleats firmly on the warning track. The ball landed in Hernandez’s glove and an entire city seemingly groaned in unison. “I just got a little bit under it,” Judge said. “It was a pretty windy night. I was hoping it would explode. I just lost it.” Said Boone, “I thought it would be pretty ostentatious to leave it in Monument Park out there.” The seeds for the Yankees’ Major League-leading 16th win were planted early. Although Judge remained unlucky in his career against Michael Wacha (0-for-15, 10 strikeouts), Kyle Higashioka picked up a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning and Giancarlo Stanton crushed a two-run homer to right in the sixth. Jameson Taillon got off to a bright start, scattering four hits and striking out eight over six scoreless innings. Clarke Schmidt had a shaky outing, allowing a solo home run to Triston Casas and a three-run homer to Reese McGuire that put Boston ahead, 4-3. Stanton sparked an eighth-inning rally with a leadoff single. Pinch runner Tim Locastro stole second, advanced on a pitch and scored on Harrison Bader’s sacrifice fly to tie the game at 4. There was a lot to see. just not what we all expect. “Whenever [Judge] comes,” said Taillon, “they all run out to watch the bat. No one wants to miss it. We know it will happen at some point.”
