Aaron Judge and Mike Trout each hit two home runs on April 14 at Yankee Stadium, but the New York Yankees secured an 11-10 walk-off victory over the Los Angeles Angels in a game that saw both teams trade leads throughout the night.
The matchup featured a rare display of power from two three-time Most Valuable Player Award winners, marking only the second time in Major League Baseball history that such players have each recorded multiple home runs in the same game. The previous occurrence was on June 21, 1956, when Hall of Famers Stan Musial and Roy Campanella achieved the feat.
Judge praised Trout after the game, saying, “He’s the greatest, the greatest of all time… I know he’s had some tough injuries over the years, but to see himself back in a better spot this year — every time he comes to the Bronx, man, he puts on a show. I hate to see it, but it’s fun competing against a guy like that.”
Trout’s performance included his fourth homer of the season and his franchise-leading 31st career multihomer game. His eighth-inning two-run shot briefly gave Los Angeles what looked like a winning lead before Trent Grisham tied it with his own second homer for New York. “It was definitely a battle,” Trout said. “A fun one to be part of. The loss is disappointing, but we fought throughout the whole game and we battled back and had great at-bats all game from up and down the lineup. To go blow for blow like that back and forth with both teams, it’s pretty cool.”
Tensions rose during Trout’s sixth-inning at-bat after inside pitches led him to hit a three-run homer that tied the score again. “I think anybody who gets anything up and in will get a little upset,” Trout said about being pitched inside.
Judge responded quickly with his own solo home run later that inning to put New York ahead once more. Reflecting on their friendly rivalry during close plays earlier in the night Judge said: “I was going to talk some smack tonight on the one he hit all the way to the warning track… But I didn’t get a chance; then he answered right back with two big homers for them.”
The high-scoring contest ended dramatically as Grisham’s ninth-inning blast set up an eventual walk-off win for New York on a wild pitch.
