Aaron Judge shows signs of life in Yankees sparking win

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Aaron Judge chose a good time for his first extra-base hit of the playoffs.

Shortly after his unlikely nemesis, Michael Wacha, was chased out of the game by Gleyber Torres' RBI single, Judge led off the sixth inning Thursday with a double to left-center field and scored on Giancarlo's sizzling single in the middle of a tie Stanton -infield.

Judge drew two walks, reached base three times and stole a base as the Yankees eliminated the Royals and advanced to Game 4 of the ALDS with a 3-1 win.

The once-vocal Kauffman Stadium crowd had quieted enough to hear Judge's sigh of relief as his double reached second base.

He was 1-for-12 in the series to that point, including a first-inning grounding against Wacha after Torres and Juan Soto combined to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead after just three pitches.

The likely American League MVP's only other hit in the series was an infield single that continued the uplifting narrative of his poor showing in the postseason.

Or at least nothing like the way he delivered, hitting 58 home runs, scoring 122 runs, scoring another 144 runs and posting a 1.159 OPS.

But manager Aaron Boone thought he saw signs that Judge was on the verge of some hits, saying they were having their “normal conversations” with no signs of pressure.

“I thought he had some good swings (in Game 3),” Boone said before Game 4. “I felt like he had some good swings on some of the fly outs he had. “I have a few did deep counts and went for a walk. Actually, he probably had a second walk (called out on a controversial check swing). I think he looks pretty good to me.”

Follow the Post's coverage of the Yankees in the postseason:

Judge is a professional .206 hitter with the second-highest postseason strikeout rate (at least 200 plate appearances) in MLB history – better than only journeyman catcher Martin Maldonado.

Reduce the sample size to the Yankees' last two postseason trips and the Judge average drops to .143 (7 for 49).

Believe it or not, Judge's head-to-head numbers with Wacha over his career are actually worse (1 for 21), so he definitely welcomed the chance to face closer Lucas Erceg in the sixth game.

The 359-foot double bounced off his bat at 115.5 mph — the second-hardest hit ball by either team in the game.

The Yankees will likely need more from Judge — who secured the Game 4 finale and pumped his fist — to get past the Tigers or Guardians in the ALCS.