Aaron Judge wins challenge, hits home run and leads Yankees shutout over the San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO.— The new automated ball-strike system (ABS) has already begun to influence games, and one of its first major protagonists was Yankees captain Aaron Judge, who reversed a decision, extended his at-bat, and then hit his first home run of the season in New York’s 3-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

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Judge used the challenge in the sixth inning against the left-handed Robbie Ray, after a slider was called as a strike. The review showed that the pitch had been outside the zone, changing the count in his favor. In that same at-bat, the star outfielder punished a four-seam fastball on a full count and hit a two-run home run that traveled 405 feet, giving the Yankees the definitive advantage. The hit was Judge’s first hit and first home run of the season, who is coming off a campaign of 53 home runs with which he won his third American League Most Valuable Player award in the last four years. The triumph also featured a brilliant performance by right-handed pitcher Cam Schlittler, who worked 5.1 scoreless innings, allowed just one hit, gave up no walks, and struck out eight batters. The young pitcher, who had been dealing with back discomfort during training, threw 68 pitches in a dominant outing. Later in the same home run entry by Judge, slugger Giancarlo Stanton also went to the street against Venezuelan reliever José Butto. It was the 60th time that Judge and Stanton hit home runs in the same game, including postseason, and the Yankees have an impressive record when both hit a home run in the same game. With another solid performance from their pitching and the power of their main figures, the Yankees achieved their second consecutive shutout over San Francisco, showing a start of the season based on dominant pitching and timely offense