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NEW YORK — For all the data available to analyze the players and events on the diamond, sometimes the reason a batter abruptly snaps out of a slump is elementary. At least it was for Aaron Judge, currently the hottest hitter on the planet.

“I think just not missing the ball,” Judge said with a chuckle. “When I’m getting a pitch to hit, trying to just get the barrel on it, and it’s working right now.”

Judge owned a .197 batting average and .725 OPS after an oh-fer in a loss on May 2. Though the Yankees were 20-13, powered by one of the stingiest pitching staffs in the majors and newcomer Juan Soto‘s near daily exploits, Judge’s surprisingly slow April hardly went unnoticed. Since then, though, Judge has resumed being his typical MVP self — he was named American League Player of the Week on Monday — while the Yankees have, as a result, reached another level, winning 13 of their last 16 games.

Judge is batting .436 with seven home runs, 10 doubles and 15 walks over that stretch. His on-base percentage since May 3 is .563. His slugging percentage is 1.000. Do the math, and his OPS is 1.563, raising his season total 263 points — from .725 to .988 — in less than three weeks.

Aaron Boone usually notices something — a swing, an at-bat, a batting practice session — that indicates Judge is about to bust out of a slump. Six-plus seasons around a player makes it almost second nature. But if there was a moment that helped spark this recent explosion — in which Judge has launched multiple missiles deep into the outfield grass — if not the bleacher seats — his manager didn’t see it.

“Not this time,” Boone said.

Judge has sparked an offense that had previously battled inconsistency even as the team found ways to win. The Yankees, after being shut out five times in their first 30 games, have scored at least five runs in eight of their last 15 games without being held scoreless. Judge’s production has elevated the Yankees from a team off to a surprising start without ace Gerrit Cole to a dominant ballclub with the second-best record in the big leagues. The Yankees, with Judge raking again, look like the Yankees again.

“I know people were kind of asking questions about his start of the year,” Yankees starter Nestor Cortes said. “But we know it just takes one swing of the bat for him to turn it around and that’s exactly what he’s done. So we’re happy that he’s hitting the ball and connecting with hard-hit balls.”

All through April, Judge was the most scrutinized hitter in the majors. Are his hands too high in his stance? Is he falling off with his swing too much? Why isn’t he obliterating mistakes?

There were valid questions about his health. Before spring training, Judge reiterated that his right big toe will require “constant maintenance” for the rest of his career after he tore a ligament running into the wall at Dodger Stadium last season. In March, he experienced enough abdominal pain to undergo testing, but no structural damage was discovered. He soon returned and was ready for the start of the season. He emphasized he was healthy, but conversations lingered even as he played every day.

All along, Boone said, Judge’s demeanor remained unchanged.

“You would never know if he has a series where he scuffles or a week where he scuffles or a week where he’s doing the things he is right now,” Boone said. “He’s really consistent in who he is and what he presents. I would say he’s the best I’ve ever seen at that.”

Ultimately, Judge pinned his frigid April on an inability to capitalize on mistakes. Too often he would foul off or swing through pitches he’s accustomed to hammering. He still took his walks and hit six home runs, but he wasn’t clicking. Rock bottom came April 20 when he struck out four times in four at-bats and heard boos from the home crowd.

That seems like a long time ago now. He leads the American League with 16 doubles. His 39 walks are the most in the majors. He’s tied for fourth with Shohei Ohtani with 13 home runs and is fifth in wRC+ (177).

Judge’s Baseball Savant page, a frosty blue through April, bleeds red again. He leads the majors in average exit velocity, barrel rate and hard-hit percentage. He has smashed a baseball 473 feet, the longest in the majors this season, at 115.7 mph and cracked another one 467 feet at 113 mph this month. He isn’t just doing damage, he’s bludgeoning pitches.

Soto has been everything the Yankees wanted. Giancarlo Stanton is so far rebounding strongly from a forgettable 2023 campaign. But nobody in the majors is inflicting more damage than Judge. He’s electrified an offense now pounding pitchers on a daily basis — by, like he says, not missing the ball.

“We’re just getting there,” Judge said.

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Ohtani takes Miz deep but phenom fans 12 in win

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Ohtani takes Miz deep but phenom fans 12 in win

MILWAUKEE — Shohei Ohtani greeted Jacob Misiorowski with a leadoff homer, but the Milwaukee Brewers‘ rookie phenom got the last word.

After giving up Ohtani’s 431-foot blast, Misiorowski responded with another dominant outing. He struck out a career-high 12 batters — including two-way superstar Ohtani in the third inning — to lead the Brewers to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.

“It’s Shohei Ohtani,” Misiorowski said. “You kind of expect [that]. It’s cool to see him do it in action, but it fires me up even more coming back the next at-bat and striking him out. I’m right there. I think it was a moment of like, ‘OK, now we go.'”

Misiorowski, whose fastball routinely tops 100 mph, threw an 88.2 mph curveball on an 0-2 count to Ohtani, who crushed it for his 31st homer. That’s the most by a Dodgers player before the All-Star break.

It was the 21st career leadoff homer for the three-time MVP, who struck out swinging on a curveball in the third and walked to start the sixth. That was the only walk given up by Misiorowski, who scattered four hits.

“Really good stuff, aggressive in the zone,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “But what really stood out to me was his command and control.”

Misiorowski outdueled three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, who surpassed 3,000 career strikeouts in his previous outing. Asked Monday about his matchup with Misiorowski, Kershaw said he only knew that the 6-foot-7 right-hander threw hard.

“I know him now, huh?” Kershaw said Tuesday. “That was super impressive. That was unbelievable. It was really special. Everything. Obviously the velo, but he’s got four pitches, commands the ball. I don’t know how you hit that, honestly. That’s just really tough.”

Misiorowski was glad to get Kershaw’s attention.

“I saw something online that he didn’t now who I was, so I hope he knows me now,” Misiorowski said. “It’s kind of cool.”

In five starts since the Brewers called him up from the minors, Misiorowski has already beaten Kershaw and 2024 NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes. In another outing, Misiorowski carried a perfect game into the seventh inning.

“He’s just broken the shell,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He’s just out of the egg, all arms and legs. He’s still got gooey stuff coming off, you can see it, all arms and legs, but there’s something special about him.”

The numbers would indicate as much. Misiorowski is 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA and has given up only 12 hits in 25⅔ innings.

He topped out at 101.6 mph and threw 20 pitches of at least 100 on Tuesday. He also threw 19 curveballs after using curves only 10% of the time before Tuesday.

He was coming off his only shaky performance, giving up five runs — including a grand slam by Brandon Nimmo — and three walks over 3⅔ innings Wednesday in a 7-3 loss to the New York Mets.

It looked as if it might be more of the same after Ohtani went deep. Misiorowski responded by striking out 12 of the next 16 batters.

“I think that’s my job, is to figure it out on the fly,” he said. “I feel like I did it tonight.”

He got out of a jam in the sixth. The Dodgers trailed 2-1 and had runners on second and third with one out, but third baseman Andruw Monasterio fielded a grounder and threw out Ohtani at the plate, and Misiorowski retired Michael Conforto on a grounder.

Misiorowski pumped his fist as he headed toward the dugout, then watched the Brewers’ bullpen nail down the win.

“It’s so satisfying,” Misiorowski said. “It’s just a dream come true, to do what I did.”

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Giants walk off on Bailey’s inside-the-park homer

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Giants walk off on Bailey's inside-the-park homer

SAN FRANCISCO — Patrick Bailey hit a three-run, inside-the-park home run with one out in the ninth inning, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night.

Bailey became just the third catcher in MLB history to hit a walk-off, inside-the-park home run, joining the Chicago Cubs’ Pat Moran in 1907 and the Washington Nationals’ Bennie Tate in 1926.

Bailey’s homer would have been an outside-the-park home run in 29 of 30 ballparks, with Oracle Park being the exception.

Mike Yastrzemski reached base twice and scored to help the Giants to their sixth win in seven games.

Casey Schmitt began the rally with a leadoff double. After Jung Hoo Lee popped out, Wilmer Flores lined a single to center.

Bailey, who grounded into a double play and struck out in two of his previous at-bats, then smashed a 1-0 fastball from Jordan Romano (1-4) into right-center field that ricocheted off the brick part of the wall.

Ryan Walker (2-3) retired one batter, with two on in the top of the ninth, to earn the win.

Phillies All-Star Kyle Schwarber had two hits, including his team-leading 28th home run.

Schwarber flew out, struck out and was hit by a pitch before homering off Giants reliever Spencer Bivens into McCovey Cove. Brandon Marsh, who singled as a pinch hitter leading off the inning, scored on the play.

Two days after being named an All-Star for the second time in his career, Robbie Ray gave up four hits and one run in 5⅔ innings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Mets’ Mendoza: Snubbed Soto ‘an All-Star for us’

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Mets' Mendoza: Snubbed Soto 'an All-Star for us'

BALTIMORE — The New York Mets consider Juan Soto to be a bona fide All-Star, despite the snub he received from those who selected the National League squad for the Midsummer Classic on July 15.

Soto, in his first year with the Mets, has performed well enough to earn the respect of his manager and teammates. In their opinion, he’s deserving of a place in the All-Star Game next week in Atlanta.

“He’s an All-Star for us,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday night after the Mets beat Baltimore 7-6. “It’s frustrating, but I’m hoping in the next couple of days we hear something and he makes it.”

Soto drove in the winning run with a sharp single on the first pitch of the 10th inning. That capped a night in which he went 3 for 5 to raise his batting average to .269 with 21 homers and 52 RBIs.

Soto has walked 72 times, by far the most in the majors, but he can also lash out at a pitcher when necessary.

“He’s got a pretty good understanding of what the pitchers are trying to do to him,” Mendoza said. “There is his awareness of the game, he’s going to see pitchers. There are times when he’s going to be aggressive. Tonight was one of those nights. First pitch in the 10th, he’s attacking.”

Soto made the All-Star team as a member of the Nationals, Padres and Yankees each year since 2021. The streak appears to be over. But his teammates believe he deserves to go.

“What he done all year is just incredible, and the results are good enough,” Mets starting pitcher Clay Holmes said. “The consistency he’s showed up with, at the at-bats he’s taken, is more than an All-Star. He’s one of the best in the game and a big part of our lineup.”

Soto seems rather philosophical about the snub.

“Sometimes, you’re going to make it and sometimes you don’t,” he told reporters after Sunday’s loss to the Yankees. “It’s just part of baseball.”

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