DJ LeMahieu has the best defense in the Yankees, usually ahead of Aaron Judge.
LeMahieu’s binding home run in Sunday’s eighth inning laid the groundwork for Judge’s latest achievement in his MVP summary, a three-time blast to elevate the Yankees to a 6-3 in 10 innings over Astros in the Bronx.
The seventh Homer for the LeMahieu season came in one inning after Giancarlo Stanton also went deep for the Yankees’ first shot in 16 innings on Friday night.
“The first little thing was that Big G hit Homer to bring us our first shot. Then, as usual. The DJ came and I knew he was going to do something big in this place, “Judge said of his teammates. “He tied the game for us, which was huge.”
The 33-year-old LeMahieu failed to replicate the numbers he published in his first two seasons in stripes, finishing in the top four in the AL MVP vote in both 2019 and 2020 with a combined slash of .336. 386 / .536.
DJ LeMahieu leveled the game with two Homer runs in the eighth inning. Robert Sabo for NY POST DJ LeMahieu, right, celebrates with Aaron Judge. Corey Sipkin for NY POST
LeMahieu’s OPS has fallen from 0.922 in those two seasons to 0.720 in the last two since he signed a six-year, $ 90 million contract in January 2021. But Sunday’s double-stroke – at 2-2 from Houston’s right-hander Phil Matton – noted his fourth dinner in June.
“Just keep the line moving, get on somehow. He hung a slider and I swung it well, “said Lemajo. “I think it was a big win because I think it’s one of the best teams we’ve faced this year. It can be said that they come to us with everything they had.
“I don’t think we played the best of this show. But to break up with them, and not play our best, I think we did enough to win two and just keep going. I’m sure we’ll have a few more battles with them along the way.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone believes the three-time All Star infielder player has had “good bats and strong bats” for much of this season and is delighted that LeMahieu has been rewarded.
“You feel like he’s been lucky all year because I feel like he’s been really consistent,” Boone said. “He had a lot of great walks and this year, in front of Judd, really good bats and he did it again today. But to be able to take a hanger there and glue it to tie the game was huge. Just a good bat from a great striker. ”
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