Aaron Judge is on the board. The slugger broke through with his first home run of the postseason in the Yankees’ 6-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday night in the Bronx, delivering a two-run dagger in ALCS Game 2. Judge flashed a smile as he rounded the bases after his 414-foot blast off of reliever Hunter Gaddis cleared the center-field wall. The seventh-inning shot helped lead the Yankees to a 2-0 advantage in the best-of-seven playoff series. The homer marked the first hit of the ALCS for Judge, who was 2-for-17 with six walks and two sacrifice flies in these playoffs to that point. “I was excited it went out,” Judge said. “You never know on these windy, chilly nights what that ball is going to do when you hit it to center here, but the ghosts were pulling it out there to Monument Park, that’s for sure.” The Yankees were leading, 4-2, when Judge went deep on a high, 95-mph fastball, capping a three-RBI evening for the captain. Juan Soto and Anthony Rizzo were among the teammates who greeted Judge outside of the dugout after he touched home plate. “The preparation he does, who he is as a person, who he is as a teammate, it’s so easy to root for him,” Rizzo said. “In these games, it really doesn’t matter who it is, how excited we are for everyone, but when Aaron does stuff, it’s extra special just because he’s such a special human being.” Judge, 32, is the heavy favorite to win his second American League MVP Award after leading the majors with 58 home runs, 144 RBI and a 1.159 OPS in the regular season. But amid his slow start to the postseason, the Guardians opted Tuesday to intentionally walk the hot-hitting Soto with one out in the second inning in front of Judge — a controversial decision that loaded the bases. Judge responded by lifting a sacrifice fly to center field against Cleveland strikeout specialist Cade Smith, putting the Yankees up, 3-0. “In that situation, you want to try to get a double-play ball,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “You want to try to get two outs with one pitch. You want to try to find a way to get out of that inning, and Cade did a great job doing that.” It was only the second time this year that a team intentionally walked Soto in front of Judge. The first instance occurred on Aug. 14 in Chicago, and Judge punished the White Sox in that at-bat by hitting a three-run home run for the 300th homer of his career. “It happened earlier in the year, so it’s not really a surprise,” said Judge, who led the majors with 20 intentional walks in the regular season. “[Soto has] been swinging the bat well recently, and trying to get a double play there, try to get out of the inning. I would probably walk him, too, at this point.” Judge now boasts 14 postseason home runs — the fifth most in Yankees history — through 50 career playoff games, though his .206 average and .769 OPS in 224 postseason plate appearances are well below his regular season averages. Now competing in his seventh postseason, Judge makes it a point not to get too high or low based on results. “You’ve just got to stay focused on what you can control,” Judge said. “I’ve been booed here plenty of times. There’s been a lot of legends that played here that have been booed. It’s just part of it. You can’t focus on that.” Judge hit a sky-high pop up against Guardians starter Tanner Bibee in his first at-bat Tuesday, but shortstop Brayan Rocchio — a Gold Glove finalist — dropped it, allowing the Yankees’ first run to score. His next three at-bats ended with fly balls to center field — including the homer. “Always a matter of time with Aaron,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I thought he had some good swings tonight. Big sac fly to extend the lead a little. … The pop-up that they dropped, I thought he got a great swing off, too.” Judge finished 1-for-3 on Tuesday and now has four RBI in his last two games. He’ll look to continue his production in ALCS Game 3, which is set to take place Thursday night in Cleveland. “Guys are excited,” Judge said, “but we still know there’s a lot of work to be done.”