WATCH: Yankees slugger Aaron Judge blasts home run in first at-bat after controversial ejection

Aaron Judge smoked a baseball well out of the ballpark on Sunday in the first at-bat he took after being ejected for the first time in his career on Saturday. It’s the kind of response the often quiet leader of the New York Yankees prefers, as he always lets his game do the talking for him.

The announcers on the broadcast even joked about whether or not he wanted to hook a foul ball toward the third-base umpire who had ejected him the night before. Instead, Judge deposited one in the seats.

Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal has been lights out recently, but he knew immediately what Judge had done to his pitch. A fastball down the middle and slightly low was not missed, and Skubal didn’t bother looking back at it.

The ball left the bat at 109.3 miles per hour and traveled 399 feet to right-center field. It would have been, per BaseballSavant, a home run in all 30 MLB parks. It had a .990 xBA and was a barrel as well.

It gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the first inning as they aim for a sweep of the visiting Tigers. After losing three of four to the Baltimore Orioles, the Yankees have bounced back in a big way.

Aaron Judge slowly turning things around

Progress is not always linear, as Aaron Judge is learning this season. After a brutal start, he began to show major signs of life with a home run in back-to-back games against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Aaron Judge has been slowly turning things around.

He then proceeded to slow back down, but he seems to be heating up again. In the opener against the Tigers, he went 1-for-3 with a walk and scored the tying run in the bottom of the ninth. In Game 2, before he was controversially ejected for expressing some disdain over a strike three call, he was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs as well as a run scored.

Then, he followed it up by opening the scoring in the bottom of the first and getting a little revenge for what was a surprising first ejection in his ninth MLB season.