Aaron Judge buries Alex Cora with game-winning HR as Yankees boot Sox down standings

The highs and lows of the New York Yankees' 2024 season have been exhausting, but fans arguably got their most satisfying moment yet. The Bombers stuck it to the Boston Red Sox in more ways than one to put a conclusion to their showdowns this year.

Saturday's drama backed the Yankees into a corner. Gerrit Cole got rocked. Alex Cora called him out for intentionally hitting Rafael Devers. And the embarrassing intentional walk to Devers dampened New York's momentum after three straight incredible wins. The Red Sox stayed alive, talked their trash, and set up the Yanks for failure on Sunday.

But, for the first time in what feels like forever, the Yankees stood their ground against a rival and swatted them away like a gnat. In the finale of the four-game set, New York captured their third victory in emphatic fashion and kicked the Red Sox down the AL Wild Card standings (they're now 4.5 games back with less than two weeks to play).

Though Giancarlo Stanton and Gleyber Torres got the offense going with an RBI double and solo home run, it was Aaron Judge who once again made his presence known. Cora revealed on Sunday morning that the Red Sox tried to retaliate for Devers by throwing at Judge in the sixth inning on Saturday.

They failed to accomplish their goal as Judge eluded the errant pitch and Cora admitted that it's now all water under the bridge. But it wasn't that way for Judge, who belted his 53rd homer of the season to give the Yankees a 4-0 lead in the third inning of the Sunday matinee. This one went 445 feet to dead center and ended up being the game-winning shot (the Sox would score two runs off Carlos Rodón and the Yankees won 5-2).

Yankees take 3 out of 4 from Red Sox thanks to Aaron Judge heroics

Typically, this would've ended with Rodón getting rocked in the first inning, the Sox snagging an early lead, never looking back, and Cora continuing his yapping in the postgame as he cried "underdog" and "Boston against the world" to motivate his overachieving roster to make a playoff push.

But it seemed like the Yankees finally understood the assignment this time around. They got after Sox starter Kutter Crawford early, tagging him for four runs, and Rodón kept himself on track nicely for 5 1/3 innings before Aaron Boone had to turn it over to the bullpen.

Though the Yanks only logged nine hits and four walks while going 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position, they managed to keep it all together. Boston went 0-for-9 with RISP with Ian Hamilton, Tim Hill and Tommy Kahnle saving the day.

Judge's two-run blast gave him a career-high 132 RBI and we simply can't wait to hear what Cora has to say about it.

Maybe Judge can drop the Sox a "suck on it" in the postgame? Please?