Yankees slugger Aaron Judge wins his first ABS challenge after so many team meetings on new system

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Aaron Judge believes the New York Yankees went a little bit overboard in their preparation for baseball's new Automated Ball-Strike System.

Manager Aaron Boone acknowledges he's a little “anal” about it all.

“We had too many meetings about it in my opinion,” said Judge, the two-time reigning AL MVP who grounded out in this first at-bat Saturday before later connecting for his second home run in two games as New York won 3-1 to complete a series sweep.

Seven challenges of calls by plate umpire Chad Whitson all were overturned — four by San Francisco, three by New York.

Judge didn't want to guess whether that was a big number at this early stage of the season.

“It's tough to say. I haven't watched enough of the other games to see how many are getting overturned,” Judge said. “I don't know, I feel like there could have been more. Guys are getting a feel for the game, umpires are getting a feel for the zone and everything like that, so we'll see how this kind of plays out in the next couple weeks.

"I love what I'm seeing from (catcher) Austin Wells back there overturning a couple big calls to kind of shift the momentum into our side.”

Judge's timely, spot-on challenge during the sixth inning of a 3-0 victory Friday night against San Francisco certainly paid off. He homered for the first time this season five pitches later with a two-run, 405-foot drive to left field after an 0-for-7 start to 2026 that included going 0 for 5 with four strikeouts Wednesday — the first hitless opening day of his career.

Paul Goldschmidt scored on the play after a double to start the rally.

Judge challenged what originally had been ruled strike two by plate umpire Chad Fairchild on an 86.1 mph slider from Robbie Ray in the sixth inning and had it overturned to a ball by the so-called robot umpire.

“I thought the call was going to stand, so it was a close one there,” Judge said. “You get in a better count, but I still have a job to do, especially with Goldy out there on second base to drive him in.”

New York was 2 for 3 in challenge opportunities through the first two games of the series, while the Giants were 1 for 2. Then a ball by San Francisco starter Tyler Mahle to Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the second was challenged by Giants catcher Patrick Bailey, and the call was overturned to a called third strike — though the scoreboard announced it as a challenge by Chisholm, showing there are still kinks being worked out.

“I was kind of obsessive over it, so I wanted to talk about it a lot,” Boone said Saturday. “I was going up to individuals almost routinely after every one, ‘Hey, I really liked that one,' why, ‘I hated that one,’ why. At the end of spring, I pulled up probably eight to 10 examples not only our games but some other games and talked through them, just trying to get our guys to inherently understand instinctively, in-the-moment situations and also whenever we can, which is easier said than done, is stripping the emotion out of it, which is going to happen at some point.”

New York's José Caballero lost the first challenge of the major league season during a season-opening 7-0 win over the Giants on Wednesday.

Boone believes the new system will be an asset for the Yankees, who had the second-lowest chase rate— or swings on pitches out of the zone — last year at 25.6% and just a fraction more than the Brewers, according to Sportradar.

“That's my expectation,” he said. “We've poured a lot into it. I feel like our team makeup should lend itself to this being a good thing for us and an advantage for us, but that's not a given, either. We've got to continue to evolve with it and learn from it and hopefully it is something that is a strength.”

For Judge, this is an adjustment. He plans to pick his moments to tap his helmet and signal the 12 Hawk-Eye cameras to make the call.

“Weird,” he said, “it's part of the game, but you've got to get used to it. I'm a hitter, I've got to focus on hitting. I'm not going try to sit here and challenge every single one I think is close, but if there's a big spot where I think I've got a chance to flip the count I'm going to do it. I've still got to go up there and do my job as a hitter.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb

Umpire Chad Whitson, right, announces that San Francisco Giants' Heliot Ramos, left, challenged a strike, which was overturned, during the ninth inning of a baseball game between the Giants and the New York Yankees in San Francisco, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge, right, is congratulated by Cody Bellinger (35) after hitting a two-run home run that also scored Paul Goldschmidt, left, during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

New York Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton, left, is congratulated by Aaron Judge after hitting a home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge, left, celebrates with Ben Rice after a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone blows a bubble as he watches players take batting practice before a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge jogs on the field while warming up before a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

HOUSTON (AP) — Illinois is heading to the Final Four for the first time in 21 years, and Andrej Stojakovic made clear the Fighting Illini have much bigger goals.

“I don’t want anybody to think this is it,” he said. “We didn’t get to the Final Four just to get there. We’re coming to win two more games.”

Freshman Keaton Wagler scored 25 points and Illinois ended Iowa's underdog March Madness run by dominating in the frontcourt, beating the Hawkeyes 71-59 on Saturday to end a Final Four drought that dated to 2005.

“It’s better than I dreamt it would ever be,” coach Brad Underwood said. “Thirty-nine years in the business and that’s all I’m going to say about my side of this. This is about these guys.”

This will be the sixth trip to the Final Four for Illinois, which has never won a national title. The Illini will face either Duke or UConn next weekend in Indianapolis.

“This is what kids dream of,” said Wagler, who was named the South Region's Most Outstanding Player. “I know I dreamed of this when I was growing up, playing in the Final Four, competing for a national championship. To be able to do it with the people around me, teammates, coaches, fans, managers, everyone, it means a lot ... but we’re not done yet.”

Underwood’s emphasis on recruiting Eastern Europeans has paid off in this tournament. Tomislav Ivisic of Croatia, who stands 7-foot-1, and his 7-2 twin brother Zvonimir have shined in March.

The much taller Illini (28-8) outrebounded Iowa 38-21. David Mirkovic led the way with 12 rebounds. Illinois also outscored Iowa 40-12 in the paint.

“We were dominant on the glass from the first minute, even in the beginning of the game,” Tomislav Ivisic said. “They started the game better, but rebounding kept us in the game.”

Stojakovic, who was born in Greece but whose father is Serbian three-time NBA All-Star Peja Stojakovic, scored 17 points for third-seeded Illinois. His dad watched proudly as his son punched his ticket to the Final Four, and Wagler's parents — who met when they played basketball at a junior college in Kansas — cheered wildly throughout for their son.

“He gets probably not near enough credit for how tough he is because he’s very unemotional and very stoic,” Underwood said of the 19-year-old Wagler. “But he’s tougher than nails.”

Bennett Stirtz scored 24 points for the ninth-seeded Hawkeyes (24-13), who knocked off top-seeded Florida in the second round as part of an impressive run under first-year coach Ben McCollum, a four-time Division II national champion at Northwest Missouri State. Stirtz played for McCollum there, then followed him to Drake and finally Iowa.

The Illini went on an 8-0 run, with four points from Tomislav Ivisic, to take a 58-51 lead with less than five minutes remaining.

Isaia Howard made one of two free throws for Iowa after that, but an alley-oop dunk by Zvonimir Ivisic pushed the lead to 60-52 with about four minutes to go.

Sage Tate hit four consecutive free throws for Iowa to get the Hawkeyes within four with two minutes to go. But Stojakovic added a layup for Illinois before Wagler made two free throws to make it 67-59.

“Our lack of shooting caught up with us,” McCollum said. “I think that we couldn’t space it, and so when you can’t space it, you can’t get to the rim. So it just became a problem where we were having to take tough 3s.”

It was the second meeting this season for these Big Ten rivals. Illinois won 75-69 on Jan. 11.

Illinois never led in the first half but took its first lead just after halftime. There were a dozen lead changes before the Illini pulled away.

The game was delayed for about 10 minutes in the first half because of a buzzer malfunction that caused the horn to blare nonstop for seven minutes.

“Nothing I can control. ... Just move on, move forward,” McCollum said. “It didn’t probably impact the fact that we gave up 16 (offensive) boards.”

Along with Wagler, teammates Mirkovic and Stojakovic were also named to the all-tournament team for the region. Rounding out the team were Stirtz and Nebraska's Pryce Sandfort.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Illinois players celebrate after beating Iowa in an Elite Eight game in the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Illinois players celebrate after beating Iowa in an Elite Eight game in the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Illinois' Keaton Wagler celebrates after Illinois beat Iowa in an Elite Eight game in the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Illinois' Brad Underwood, center, celebrates with players after an Elite Eight game against Iowa in the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Illinois coach Brad Underwood celebrates after Illinois beat Iowa in an Elite Eight game in the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)