Add The New York Post on Google Camera operators flocked to the outskirts of the Yankees dugout steps, forming two parallel lines that allowed enough space for the main attraction to squeeze between them. They trained their devices on the tunnel below and waited, the only thing missing was a red carpet.
And then the superstar that is Aaron Judge, attempting to repress a grin, jogged up the steps, darted through the flashes and made his way to the batting cage to a few cheers from the handful of fans already in the Stadium several hours before Tuesday’s game.
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Manager Aaron Boone did not bother suppressing his emotions, wearing a wide smile as he watched his captain take a round of batting practice that seemed normal.
It was not normal, of course, because the scene had not been seen since May. But exactly 100 days after he played his last game, Judge returned to the Yankees and brought their World Series hopes with him.
He might not have played exactly like Aaron Judge, but he looked enough like himself to inspire hope in what became a 5-3 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 46,211 who welcomed their captain back with a standing ovation — and even a few cheers after a strikeout, simply happy to be able to root for him again — on an 0-for-3 night.
Judge played six innings in right field and was not tested before he was removed for Heliot Ramos, who later smacked a three-run home run in the eighth.
Just about everything was encouraging for the Yankees until the ninth, when Jazz Chisholm Jr. was pulled after making a throw to first base — there was no immediate announcement concerning Chisholm, who had dived into second base headfirst in the previous inning — and when Tim Hill allowed a two-run homer to Hunter Goodman that necessitated another David Bednar appearance.
Otherwise, the Yankees rode Ramos’ blast, enough offense and Cam Schlittler’s seven overwhelming, one-run innings to start a 19-game sprint to the end of the regular season on the right foot — a stretch that will be more of a speed walk, then jog, then sprint for No. 99.
After an expedited rehab process that did not include a trip to the minor leagues, Judge is building up on the fly in the majors.
He did not finish Tuesday’s game, and he likely will be off Wednesday or Thursday.
The club will ease back Judge, who looked imposing but also like a player who had not seen real pitching since May 31 in swinging through a 2-2 four-seamer in the first and staring at another fastball for Strike 3 in the sixth, which sandwiched a flyout to right-center in the fourth.
In the outfield, Judge’s self-discipline in protecting his rib went untested: He will try not to dive, at least until the postseason.
“We’ll adjust each night [from] what we see,” Boone said, “and want to build him up smartly.”
So there was reason for player and team to be cautious, with still plenty of unknowns regarding how long it will take for him to become an everyday force in the lineup.
But there also was reason for player and team to celebrate.
Judge had not played a game since the end of May, and a club with World Series expectations and aspirations did whatever it could to just tread water without him, finishing 45-39 without a slugger Boone called “the best hitter in the world.”
The feeling around the clubhouse, according to the manager, was different Tuesday than it had been for the past three months.
“I think it’s real,” Boone said of the Judge effect. “His presence is very real and obviously you know what he means to those guys — not only as a player, but as a person in that room, as a captain. So I think everyone’s excited, obviously, that he’s back.”
The effect was not immediately present on a night that the first two Yankees runs, before Ramos’ swing, came with the Rockies’ help.
The go-ahead score arrived in the fifth, when Ryan McMahon roped a single to the right field corner with George Lombard Jr. on first.
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There might have been a play at the plate, but right fielder Zac Veen did not play it cleanly off the wall.
The first run was more Little League: In the first, a Luis García Jr. bloop into shallow left-center was 1) booted by left fielder Jake McCarthy and then 2) ignored by Goodman, who did not seem to be paying attention as McCarthy lobbed a throw home, enabling Cody Bellinger to score from first and García to wind up on third.
The Yankees (82-62) were temporarily 3 ½ games behind the Rays, whose game had not yet finished, in a race that felt a bit more real Tuesday.
“Off we go,” Boone said. “Obviously, excited to have our captain back.”
