WASHINGTON — Aaron Judge came up with a new rule Monday night: If he doesn’t hit a home run, his opponents can’t hit any — at least on his watch.
The Nationals did the impossible and kept Judge in the park, so the Yankees center fielder returned the favor by dropping jaws with his glove.
Judge made a quick leap while running toward the left-center field wall that turned a potential home run into a double play, highlighting the Yankees’ 5-2 win over the Nationals in the series opener at Nationals Park.
While Judge remained at 51 home runs, having hit seven home runs in his last six games before Monday, his defensive gem (who denied former Yankees outfielder Andres Chaparro a home run and doubled off James Wood at first base in the bottom of the fourth) became the latest addition to the list of American League players likely to win the league’s MVP award.
By the end of the night, Judge also managed to hit his 1,000th career strikeout with a single connected the other way.
The Yankees (78-54) hit solo home runs by Gleyber Torres, Austin Wells and Jazz Chisolm Jr. to win for the fifth time in their last six games, maintain the best record in the American League and extend their lead in the American League East to two games over the jobless Orioles.
Anthony Volpe also pitched a three-hit game and scored two runs on a sacrifice fly from DJ Lemayo.
Judge’s steal was one of three plays that helped Nestor Cortes limit the Nationals (59-73) to just one run through 6²/₃ innings.
Alex Verdugo, who pitched a three-hit game, made a great catch while running toward the left field wall — and got his right knee out on the play — while Wells picked up a runner at second base to help Curtis out of another jam.
Cortes kept a clean sheet until the seventh inning before Juan Yepez sealed the game with a home run.
Prior to that, Curtis had thrown 20 ¹/₃ consecutive scoreless innings, a significant turnaround for the lefty as the Yankees headed into the final stretch.
He helped himself in the sixth inning by striking out three after putting runners on second and third bases to start the frame.
Torres opened the game with his second home run in two days, this time off left-handed pitcher Mitchell Parker to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.
After a difficult start to the season, Torres has found his footing over the past two months, leading to him regaining his captaincy duties during the team’s last 10 matches, which have produced strong results.
After Volpe doubled the lead and scored on Lemayo’s first sacrifice fly in the fourth, Wells opened the sixth with his 10th home run of the year off right-hander Tanner Rainey.
Volpe followed with a single up the middle and rushed to second when center fielder Jacob Young mishandled the ball.
The Yankees had a terrifying moment during the game when Volpe, who was not wearing a helmet, collided with the knee of center fielder C.J. Abrams at second base.
But after being checked by the coach, Volpe stayed in the game and then continued running.
He stole third, scoring on Lemayo’s sacrifice bunt to put the team up 4-0.
Chisolm made it 5-1 in the eighth inning after hitting his 21st home run of the season — his eighth in 18 games with the Yankees — against left-handed pitcher Joe La Sorsa.
Mark Leiter Jr. surrendered a solo home run to Young in the eighth inning, but Clay Holmes pitched a clean ninth for his 28th save of the year.
