RailRiders' Judge ends homer drought

Aaron Judge has slowly started to emerge from a funk that had lasted almost a month. On Saturday, he broke out in a big way.
The Yankees' second-ranked prospect homered, drove in three runs and scored three times as Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre won a slugfest in Columbus, 15-12.
Judge finished with two hits and also reached on a walk. The ended his month-long home run drought in the fourth inning when he sent a three-run blast over the left-center field wall at Huntington Park to give the RailRiders an 8-7 lead.
It was the 24-year-old outfielder's first homer since May 9 against Pawtucket. Following that game, Judge owned a .271/.328/.508 slash line. Since then, he's seen his OPS drop to .722 while his batting average sits at .246.
"It's baseball," Judge told the New York Post earlier this month. "The season is 500 at-bats, so I'm not worried about 50. It's part of the game. You learn from it."
Overall, Judge is tied for seventh in the league with eight long balls and tied for seventh with 33 runs scored. He's hit safely in nine of his last contests, driving in seven runs during that stretch.
"The numbers might not show it, but it comes through on video," Scranton/Wilkes-Barre hitting coach Tom Wilson told the newspaper. "It's more about his approach and getting his body in position to stay in the middle of the field."
Wilson said he believes MLB.com's No. 27 overall prospect can turn himself into a productive Major Leaguer, despite his early-season struggles in the International League.
"It's gonna take some time, but when he gets it, he can be really special," Wilson said. "It may not show up today or tomorrow. It might show up next month or in September if he's in the big leagues."
Nick Swisher was 3-for-4 with a homer, three RBIs and four runs scored, while Ben Gamel collected four hits and scored three runs out of the leadoff spot for the RailRiders.
Jesus Aguilar went yard twice and drove in four runs for the Clippers, who got a solo shot from Collin Cowgill.