Aaron Judge thanks ‘ghosts’ of Monument Park for season-saving home run

Aaron Judge‘s season-saving home run on Tuesday night was no ordinary long ball.

The likely soon-to-be three-time MVP tied the game with a three-run blast after turning on a 99.7-mph pitch over a foot inside that doinked off the foul pole. It was the first time a pitch that fast, and that inside, had ever been hit for a home run since pitch tracking began in 2008. It was also the first time Judge ever hit a home run on a pitch over 99.5 mph.

Normally, when a ball that far inside is pulled in the air, it results in a foul ball. But not this one, and Judge may have some Yankees legends to thank.

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New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) hits a three-run home run in the fourth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays during Game 3 of the American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium.  (Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images)

“You just never know with the wind if it’s going to push it foul and keep curving or not,” Judge said. “But I guess a couple ghosts out there in Monument Park helped kind of keep that fair.”

Judge also cracked a joke, with a touch of shade to the critics, about swinging at a pitch out of the zone.

“I get yelled at for swinging at them out of the zone, but now I’m getting praised for it,” he said.

Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees celebrates hitting a three-run home run against the Toronto Blue Jays during the fourth inning in Game 3 of the American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 7, 2025 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Al Bello/Getty Images)

2 FIELD INVADERS CAUSE STIR DURING YANKEES’ ALDS GAME 3 WIN OVER BLUE JAYS

The three-run jack completed the Yankees’ comeback after they had trailed 6-1, forcing Carlos Rodon to exit the game before the third inning ended. Jazz Chisholm Jr. added a solo shot in the fifth, and the Yanks tacked on two more while the shaky bullpen stood on its head to record 22 outs without allowing a run.

The Yankees entered the contest a loss away from elimination in the best-of-five American League Division Series against their AL East rival Toronto Blue Jays. For a while, it sure looked like the Blue Jays were going to coast to a sweep.

Instead, the two foes will be back in the Bronx on Wednesday night at 7:08 p.m. ET on FS1. 

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) hits an RBI double in the third inning against the Toronto Blue Jays during Game 3 of the ALDS on Oct. 7, 2025.  (Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images)

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Six days after spinning eight scoreless frames against the Boston Red Sox, rookie sensation Cam Schlittler will go for the Yankees, while the Blue Jays will go with a bullpen game started by Louis Varland — the same pitcher who allowed that fateful home run to Judge.

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