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Aaron Judge gives Yankees reminder of how important he is

Statistically? Nah.

Spiritually? By all means.

His April oblique injury prevents Aaron Judge from claiming team most valuable player honors to date in this 2019 Yankees campaign. Yet if you ever doubted how much the right fielder means to this franchise’s hopes and dreams — just to its initial goal of winning its first American League East title since 2012 — then let Tuesday night serve as Exhibit A.

Not only did Judge snatch a Yankees victory from the jaws of impending defeat, his two-run, eighth-inning homer to right field against Tampa Bay’s Colin Poche catapulting the Yankees from trailers to leaders in this important division battle, but the blast, like Belle’s declaration of love at the end of “Beauty and the Beast,” seemed to break the spell cast over the theretofore dormant offense.