Judge takes home run away from Ohtani in MVP robbery

By MIKE FITZPATRICK
AP Baseball Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge robbed fellow AL MVP Shohei Ohtani of a home run Wednesday night, leaping above the center-field fence at Yankee Stadium to keep the ball in the park before snatching it on the way down with his bare hand. With one out in the top of the first inning, Ohtani sent a high fly to deep center. The 6-foot-7 Judge went back to the wall and jumped, a little to the right of the 408-foot sign in front of Monument Park. The ball hit the heel of Judge’s glove well above the fence and caromed softly back toward the warning track. As he landed on his feet, Judge simply stuck out his right hand and made the catch.