SAN FRANCISCO — Aaron Judge walked to the plate for his first at-bat at Oracle Park on Friday night and was met with a heavy dose of boos. By the end of the night, he had perfected the role of the villain. Playing the team he grew up rooting for, and the one he left at the altar in free agency to remain in pinstripes, Judge lived up to the moment by delivering a pair of home runs to lift the Yankees to a 6-2 win over the Giants in front of 35,018 mostly agitated fans.
Judge crushed a three-run shot to left field in the third inning to give the Yankees (40-19) a 3-1 lead and then extended it to 4-1 in the sixth by drilling a 426-foot blast to center. McCovey Cove was spared a splash by Judge, at least in the first game of the series. The two home runs, both off Giants right-gander Jordan Hicks, gave Judge the major league lead alone with 20 on the season.
A ridiculous 14 of those came in the month of May as Judge awoke from a quiet April and wreaked havoc on opposing pitchers. He also broke away from a tie with Lou Gehrig and became the first Yankee to hit 14 home runs and 12 doubles in a single calendar month. After Judge’s second home run of the night, the Yankees fans in attendance showered him with “MVP” chants, which also drew boos from the home crowd.
Marcus Stroman made sure Judge’s latest feats came in a win as he was sharp and efficient across 7 1/3 innings to keep the Giants (29-29) at bay. It marked the second time in three starts Stroman has recorded an o.
