NEW YORK — Aaron Judge bet on himself this spring when he turned down a deal that would have been worth $230 million. The slugger is making that pay off and if the Yankees want to keep him, they are going to pay a steep price now. Judge hit two home runs Friday night, including his second grand slam of the season, driving in six runs and powering the Yankees to an 11-5 come-from-behind win over the Royals at Yankee Stadium.
It was the 29th come-from-behind win of the season for the Yankees (68-33), who maintained the best record in the American League. It was just the sixth time this season they had come back and won after trailing at the end of the seventh inning.
Judge’s second of the night, a 370-foot shot, capped an eight-run, eighth-inning rally, which began when Andrew Benintendi, in his second game as a Yankee, “singled,” on a ground ball to first in the bottom of the eighth inning to drive in a run. With the bases loaded, Scott Barlow walked in the game-tying run for Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who singled in the go-ahead run.
