NEW YORK – When Aaron Judge connects with a high fastball, there’s usually little doubt about how far it will go and where it will land. But lately, the results of his at-bats haven’t been so obvious anymore.

Not only was the Bronx crowd unsure whether Judge’s fly ball would go out as it traveled toward the deepest part of Yankee Stadium in the seventh inning Tuesday night, even his own teammate of seven years wasn’t convinced. Gleyber Torres, who was on base with a single, tagged in first as the entire stadium held its breath. By the time the ball landed outside the wall, Judge had already caught up to Torres at first base, barely a step or two behind him. He had Torres start jogging before starting his home run trot.

“He did that earlier this year too, so I was pretty pissed at the time,” Judge joked about tagging Torres. “I was pretty pissed off again. … You never know, when the wind is blowing like that, what the ball is going to do in center field. He’s trying to get into scoring position. So I let this one slide.”

First baseman Anthony Rizzo joked that he expected better from Torres.

“I’m a little disappointed in Gleyber for not knowing Judge’s puppet there,” Rizzo said with a grin. “We talked to him about that a lot. It’s a big swing for Judgey. He’s had some really good at-bats and been put in big situations. To hit the home run, it was a really easy swing, and he’s the best in the whole world.” business with that.”

Judge’s two-run shot in the seventh inning of the Yankees’ 6-3 victory over the Guardians marked his first home run of the postseason. Before Tuesday night, his last playoff home run came in Game 5 of the 2022 ALDS – also against Cleveland. He had gone 35 postseason at-bats without a home run, and the Yankees would be happy if the worst is finally behind him.

The Yankees captain entered Game 2 of the American League Championship Series hitting .133 (2-for-15) with a .564 OPS and just one RBI in five playoff games this fall. This wasn’t the first time in his career that he went from being a nuisance in the regular season to less of a concern in the playoffs. After crushing 62 home runs in an MVP season in 2022, Judge went 5-for-36 with three RBIs and two walks through nine games in October. Until he got the monkey off his back Tuesday night, Judge’s playoff slide had reached the point where even opposing defenses weren’t all that afraid of the mighty slugger.

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt went so far as to deliver the ultimate insult in the second inning when he elected to intentionally walk Juan Soto to load the bases for Judge. The decision seemed to baffle Judge’s teammates in the Yankees dugout. Anthony Volpe waved his arms in front of him and declared, “No way! No way!’ Jazz Chisholm stared wide-eyed into the Cleveland dugout, seemingly in disbelief.

“That’s extremely disrespectful,” Chisholm told FOX Sports about deliberately putting Soto ahead of judge. “It’s Soto, we understand he’s playing great and all that. I mean, I would walk Soto in any other situation. But it’s an insult right there.”

Left-hander Nestor Cortes added: “That’s crazy. You’re intentionally leaving Soto out to pitch for the MVP.”

Judge, who responded by hitting a sacrifice fly to center field to pad New York’s lead to 3-0, downplayed Cleveland’s decision. He said he didn’t take it personally and joked that he would “probably take a walk with Soto at this point too.” But Judge’s teammate Oswaldo Cabrera told FOX Sports he thought the intentional walk to Soto may have woken Judge. Cabrera believes Judge wants moments like this to remind himself that he is the Yankees’ captain and to add an edge to his at-bats.

If the righty is woken from his postseason slumber, it should paralyze opponents, especially since the Yankees did just fine without him hitting the cover. The Bronx Bombers comfortably dispatched the Royals in the ALDS, and they held a 4-2 lead against Cleveland on Tuesday before Judge raised the decibel level in the seventh inning. Although he has helped and had better swings and productive at-bats, New York has now jumped to a 2-0 lead in the ALCS against the Guardians without Judge’s heroics.

Which is to say: Judge is warming up at just the right time. If the Yankees take care of business for the rest of this series — and all signs are flashing that they will — they will need the monstrous MVP version of Judge to win against more powerful offenses in the World Series. The National League Championship Series features two more formidable lineups than Cleveland’s, and whichever team makes it out alive knows it will have to contend with the Juan Soto and Judge-powered Yankees.

“Always a matter of time with Aaron,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Definitely good to see that he put one in the seats and really gave us a cushion there.”

The Guardians — not to mention the Dodgers and Mets — can only hope Judge isn’t just getting started.

Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

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