Aaron Judge snaps power outage with walk-off HR vs. Rays

New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) reacts after hitting a walk-off two-run home run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium. John Jones-Imagn Images

Yankees' Aaron Judge snaps power outage with walk-off HR vs. Rays

By Mike J. Asti | Last updated May 24, 2026 10:01 PM ET

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Responding from a 4-2 loss on Friday night, the New York Yankees claimed revenge on the Tampa Bay Rays with a walk-off 2-0 win on Sunday.

And in addition to the Yankees gaining momentum as a team with a win over the first-place Rays, their captain secured some for himself, too.

Aaron Judge played the role of New York's hero

Aaron Judge put on his proverbial cape and played the role of hero in the Bronx, clubbing a game-winning two-run bomb in the bottom of the ninth inning.

For his second hit of the game, Judge connected on the first pitch he saw in his last at-bat and sent the ball into the stands in deep right field. The home run snapped a recent power outage for Judge — his last home run before Sunday was on May 10th.

Judge's walk-off blast snapped his home run drought

Judge's long ball ended an 11-game drought and sent the fans in attendance at Yankee Stadium during a rainy holiday weekend home happy.

A Walk-Off to Remember #ALLRISE pic.twitter.com/LLHSSHgqk1
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 24, 2026

"Just like all the other ones. Glad we were able to do it in a win," said Judge about his big swing after the game.

Judge is off to a slower start to the season than in most recent years

Still yet to fully heat up, the back-to-back reigning American League MVP now has 17 home runs and 32 RBI in 53 games and 192 at-bats. After finishing with a .331 batting average in 2025 and a .322 clip in 2024, Judge is only hitting .250 to this point in the season. The rest of his slash line of .379/.557 is also far below the normal he's set in his most recent seasons.

For historic context, Judge, 34, is 15 home runs shy of reaching the 400 milestone.

But Yankees fans hope this walk-off blast provides Judge the jolt he's needed, thus building a win streak for the team. With the win, New York is 31-22, but still 4.5 games behind the Rays for the top spot in the American League East.

Mike J. Asti

Mike Asti is an experienced media personality and journalist with a vast resume and skillset, most notably from time with TribLIVE Radio and WPXI-TV. Asti now serves as the Managing Editor of WV Sports Now, where he leads the coverage of WVU sports. He has also covered the Steelers, Penguins, Pirates and other teams within the Pittsburgh market

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