Aaron Judge didn’t just impress with his bat on Friday night against the Cubs.
The right fielder also stole the show in the top of the fourth with defensive gems on consecutive plays in the top of the fourth to keep Carlos Rodón out of trouble, while protecting a three-run lead.
The first play came with one out, when burgeoning star Pete Crow-Armstrong sent a fly ball deep to right, apparently headed to the seats in the shallow part of the park.
But Judge got to the wall, timed his leap perfectly — and avoided the distraction of a fan also reaching for the ball — to make an excellent catch.
With chants of “MVP” from the Stadium crowd still echoing, Judge made almost as good a catch on the next play, as he raced in and made a diving play on Dansby Swanson’s sinking liner for the final out of the inning.
Again, the Bronx crowd responded with “MVP” chants as Judge jogged off the field.
He also drove in the team’s first run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third that was followed by Cody Bellinger’s two-run homer against his former team.
