3 key plays by Judge that propelled Yankees to Game 3 victory

Game 3 of the American League Championship Series was the Aaron Judge show New York Yankees fans had been waiting for almost all postseason.

Heading into Monday, Judge was just 4-for-31, with his only home run coming way back against the Minnesota Twins in the wild-card game. Including the AL Division Series and the first two games of the ALCS, the Yankees outfielder was slashing .074/.219/.111.

The catch

Judge's big game versus the Houston Astros began with a key grab at the right-field wall that robbed Yuli Gurriel of extra bases to lead off the fourth inning:

Though Judge took some time to get up from the jarring catch, it was the wall that spectators were most worried about.

The hit

Despite going 1-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts - raising his postseason punch-out count to 21 - Judge made his one hit count.

The 25-year-old mountain of a man snapped his seven-game homer-less slump by putting one into the left-field seats for the Bronx crowd:

The three-run shot gave the Yankees an 8-0 lead, which was taken to the bank despite the bullpen surrendering a ninth-inning run.

More glove

The Yankees' rookie phenom wasn't finished flashing the leather just yet, though. In the fifth, with a runner on first and the speedy Cameron Maybin at the dish, Judge laid out to make a diving snag in shallow right field.

Preventing Josh Reddick - who walked to lead off the inning - from getting into scoring position with nobody out was a tough play. In fact, according to Statcast, that catch is made only 29 percent of the time.

In the span of one-and-a-half frames, Judge was a human highlight reel. He's also a big reason why the Yankees are back in the series.