“Every game is important,” Judge said, per Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. “Doesn’t matter what happened before, what’s coming up. It’s just about today. We were focused on today. We really weren’t worried about the past six games, past 10 games, past 70 games. We’re worried about what we had today in front of us.”

The Yankees got off to a nice start in Sunday’s game, opening up a 5-0 lead. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza decided to pitch to Judge with first base open, a mistake that he paid for immediately. They appeared focused and relaxed in the first few innings, despite the mounting pressure. But the bullpen faltered, allowing the Mets to climb back into the game.

Judge went through his struggles at the beginning of the June swoon, but has picked it up recently. He has a .327 batting average, a .480 on-base percentage, and seven homers in his past 17 games. Despite the team’s losses, Judge has pulled his weight in recent weeks.

The Yankees host the Mariners and Cubs for three games each before the All-Star Break. After losing the AL East lead, they need to hit the break with momentum. Seattle and Chicago are both playoff hopefuls, so it will be a tough task, but the Bombers are running out of slack in the standings.

Judge will face off against fellow AL MVP candidate Cal Raleigh in three games at Yankee Stadium this week. Can he overtake the AL home run lead?