Magical Historical Inning

As if it was scripted, the Yankees bookend sluggers authored a remarkable 9th inning comeback Tuesday night in the Bronx.  Trailing the Pirates 8-4, Aaron Judge led off the inning crushing a 3-1 Wil Crowe pitch that landed in the left field bleachers for NUMBER 60... as #99 tied the Babe's greatest season total in game 147.  A brilliant moment, an historic moment... yet one that still left the Yanks down by three.  The comeback gained momentum as Anthony Rizzo doubled, Gleyber Torres walked and Josh Donaldson singled to load the bases.  And up came Giancarlo Stanton.  

Bogged down in a miserable slump since returning from a foot injury -- and entering the at-bat 0 for his last 16, and 9 for 72 with 27 strikeouts -- Stanton hit a scorching line drive that just cleared the left field fence for a 9-8 win and a piece of history that now belongs to "G."  It was his third career walk off grand slam tying the major league record.  He now shares it with Alex Rodriguez, Vern Stephens and Cy Williams.

One thing more: the Yankees are 11-0 this season in games whew both Judge and Stanton homer.

Back to Judge for a moment:  that home run raised his batting average to .316, leaving him the American League's leading hitter, as he continues to top the AL in homers and RBIs.  So while chasing Roger Maris, and those tainted National Leaguers, Judge is also edging closer to becoming the first Yankee Triple Crown winner since the beloved Mickey Mantle in 1956.

Wow!

(My image of Judge is from an April 16th 2017 game; the one of Stanton is timestamped exactly a year later.)

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