Tag: MLB

Yankees’ full-blown collapse suddenly on the table

At this point, you don’t even need to hear the words or listen to the explanations — and what are they going to say, anyway? How are the Yankees going to describe what has happened to this season that was such a dream-cast just 15 minutes ago? How do you explain the inexplicable?

No. All you need to do is look at the eyes. Look at the faces. Look at the Yankees in the dugout these days, looking tortured, looking troubled, looking utterly bewitched and bewildered by what’s happening to them. They lost again Saturday night to Tampa Bay, 2-1. Their lead in the AL East is down to four games. It’s three in the loss column.

It is no longer an abstract notion that the Yankees could collapse.

They are collapsing. Their eyes tell you that much. Their body language tells you that much. And if any of the Yankees were given truth serum, maybe what they’d do is channel an old Red Sox shortstop named Rick (Rooster) Burleson who, after the fourth game of the Boston Massacre 44 years ago, shook his head and gave one of the most honest quotes in the history of quotes.

“Every day,” Burleson said, “you sit in front of your locker and ask God, ‘What the hell is going on?’ ”

What the hell is going on?

Hell, that’s what’s going on. Baseball hell. The Yankees are in such a collective hitting funk it actually felt like a positive consolation prize when Aaron Judge slammed a home run — No. 52 — in the ninth inning Saturday, snapping a 21-inning scoring drought for the Yankees.

Aaron Judge and Aaron Boone
Aaron Judge and Aaron Boone
AP; Getty Images

The Yankees are living under such a dark cloud that it didn’t matter a bit that the Rays tried their best to hand them a freebie, making a couple of awful errors early, running themselves out of what should’ve been a seventh inning rife with insurance runs. Didn’t matter. Doesn’t matter. The Yankees are in such a bad place they aren’t even accepting gifts.

None of this makes sense. Not a bit of it. The Yankees are still the better team on paper in just about every game they play. But they are also showing a skin that’s paper-thin. A five-game winning streak from Aug. 21-26 that seemed to have halted all the negative mojo feels like it happened months ago.

And every day, they sit in the dugout, sit in front of their lockers, and bear a look that distinctly asks: “What the hell is going on?”

Or, as manager Aaron Boone said: “If we don’t dig ourselves out, you’ll have a great story.”

Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt allowed just two runs, but still suffered the loss.
USA TODAY Sports

Great, of course, is in the eye of the beholder. The Yankees don’t want any part of that story. Yankees fans want no part of that story. Yet every day is a fresh chapter. Every day is a case study in a team trapped in its own head. Every game is a thesis in just how easy it is to lose baseball games once you hit the slippery slope.

“There has to be some level of relaxing a little bit,” Boone said. “Walking that fine line in a failing game. We’ve got to be tough-minded right now.”

Boone speaks of winning small victories now, of winning at-bats, of working counts, of stacking quality at-bats. It is sound strategy, sure, one that sounds perfectly reasonable in the quiet of a postgame manager’s office. And one that can sometimes be difficult to translate in a game

Right now, it feels as if the Yankees are trying to translate the Dead Sea Scrolls.

“We’re not where we want to be,” Giancarlo Stanton said, “but we still have a fine opportunity.”

Said Boone: “It’s right there. We have the same conversation every day. We’ve got to find a way, we’ve got to score. We’ve got thing right here to grab and take and we’re still in control of that.”

Through much of August, that’s what sustained the Yankees: As bad as they were playing, they’d built such a cushion that they should be able to right themselves and not have to spend one moment sweating. But they are sure sweating now.

They sure look perplexed in the dugout, and in the postgame clubhouse, trying to explain away one loss after another, trying to make sense of how 15 ½ games became four. No need to ask if the Yankees can collapse. They are collapsing. There are still 29 games to go, still plenty of time to right the ship.

And still plenty of time to sink it.

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Andrew Benintendi stays mum on future with Yankees

ANAHEIM, Calif. — For a team that was on a historic win pace for much of the first half of the season and entered Wednesday with a seven-game lead in the AL East, the Yankees have quite a bit of uncertainty in their outfield — both for the stretch run and looking ahead to next year.

Aaron Judge can be a free agent. Aaron Hicks still has three years and $30 million left on his contract but has become a little-used bench player. Giancarlo Stanton’s persistent leg issues prevent him from being a regular presence in the outfield.

They also have Harrison Bader, the return from St. Louis for Jordan Montgomery, a defensive specialist who hasn’t even played in any rehab games as he comes back from plantar fasciitis.

Then there’s Andrew Benintendi, acquired from Kansas City before the trade deadline to provide some much-needed consistency and balance to the offense from the left side.

Benintendi is also set to be a free agent after this season and said this week hasn’t given much thought to his plans for next year.

Andrew Benintendi
AP

“Not at all,’’ Benintendi said before going 0-for-4 in the Yankees’ 3-2 loss to the Angels. “I’ll worry about that once the season is over. There’s only a month or so left and I want to keep the focus here.”

Though the Yankees scored more than four runs just twice in their previous nine games heading into Wednesday’s series finale, Benintendi has given them what they’d hoped for over that stretch, going 13-for-36, with two doubles, two homers, seven RBIs, just four strikeouts and an OPS of .968.

That came after his first 22 games with the Yankees, when the 28-year-old hit just .192 (14-for-73), with no homers, five RBIs and 19 strikeouts with an OPS of just .604.

Benintendi said not much has changed to cause the improved performance.

“I haven’t changed my approach or made adjustments,” Benintendi said. “I just do what’s worked before.”

During his first weeks as a Yankee, one part of his game told him he wasn’t right at the plate.

“I was striking out and fouling off pitches that I should have been hitting, so I knew I was off,’’ Benintendi said. “That’s not my game. When I strike out, I know I’m not going good.”

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Joey Gallo happy and thriving with Dodgers due to ‘laid back’ vibe

Joey Gallo was smiling. He was laughing. He was …. happy?

“Our vibe here is laid back, try to win games, try not to make it more than anything than just baseball,” the former Yankee said. “I think that’s been nice. It’s been good so far.”

Since being traded by the Yankees on Aug. 2, where he was benched after intense struggles and fan animosity, Gallo has performed well for the Dodgers — albeit in an extremely small sample size. He’s hitting .196/.339/.478 with an .818 OPS and three home runs and eight RBIs in 46 at-bats.

Joey Gallo drives in a run after getting a hit by a pitch during the third inning of the Mets’ 4-3 loss to the Dodgers.
N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg

He was batting fifth for the team with the best record in the sport on Tuesday against the Mets, a sign of what the Dodgers think of the left-handed hitting slugger.

“They’ve seen some things they think they can make me better at,” Gallo said after the Dodgers’ 4-3 win. “It doesn’t happen overnight, but when I first got there to LA, it was, ‘Hey, we’re just going to work on the process with you and get you back to who you are and who you can be.’ ”

Very little, if anything, went right for Gallo with the Yankees after coming over from the Rangers prior to last year’s trade deadline. This season, he became an albatross, striking out 106 times in 233 trips to the plate while batting .159. He became the object of loud and frequent boos, and even said previously he didn’t want to show his face around the city.

“Sometimes a change of scenery helps,” Gallo said. “There was nothing the Yankees were doing wrong. I just didn’t play well there. I wish I played better.”

He did struggle in the Dodgers’ recent series with the Marlins, going 0-for-9 with four strikeouts, and was hitless Tuesday night but did get an RBI on a hit by pitch with the bases loaded. But the free agent-to-be has been far more productive with them than he was with the Yankees. Ironically, since acquiring Gallo, the Dodgers are 14-4 when he appears in a game while the Yankees have scuffled, managing an 8-16 mark heading into Tuesday’s game in Anaheim.

Gallo has kept tabs on them. He congratulated Aaron Judge on his 50th home run over text message on Tuesday and is rooting for his old teammates to do well. There is a chance Gallo can see them again this year, if both teams advance to the World Series. He wouldn’t mind a reunion.

“I get a ring either way,” he joked. “My chances there go up a little bit. I want the best for those guys. I love those guys over there. It would be exciting obviously to play them.”

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White Sox’s Tony La Russa misses game on doctor’s orders

Chicago manager Tony La Russa sat out Tuesday’s game against the Kansas City Royals on the direction of his doctors, the White Sox said in a statement.

“La Russa is scheduled to undergo further medical testing tomorrow in Chicago,” the team said, noting that they anticipate providing an update on his status before Wednesday’s game.

Bench coach Miguel Cairo will manage in La Russa’s absence.

Tony La Russa is scheduled to undergo medical testing on Wednesday.
AP Photo

The 77-year-old bench boss has weathered a rough season with the White Sox, a team that has struggled to live up to its World Series aspirations in 2022.

Chicago is third in the AL Central at 63-65 entering Tuesday’s game, having lost four straight. Calls for La Russa’s job have grown amid the team’s struggles, and he’s certainly heard them.

“I just get angry,” he said after Sunday’s loss to the Diamondbacks. “I don’t like frustration, discouragement. That’s loser crap. Just seeps energy out of your body.

“I just get angry and want to do something about it.”



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Aaron Judge history spoiled by Shohei Ohtani as Yankees fall to Angels

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Aaron Judge made history on Monday night, becoming just the third Yankee to reach the 50-homer milestone multiple times in his career. 

But it was his main challenger for AL MVP — Shohei Ohtani — who had the biggest blast of the night, as Ohtani’s two-run homer in the fifth put the Angels ahead for good in their 4-3 win at Angel Stadium. 

Josh Donaldson’s pinch-hit single with two outs in the ninth gave the Yankees some life before Oswaldo Cabrera flied out to deep center to end it. 

It sent the Yankees to their third straight loss after a five-game winning streak that now seems a distant memory. 

Frankie Montas gave up three homers — tied for a career high — and for a fourth consecutive game, the Yankees couldn’t score more than three runs. 

It left the Yankees seven games ahead of the second-place Rays in the AL East, which is as small as their lead has been in the division since June 5. 

Shohei Ohtani hits a two-run homer in the fifth inning.
Getty Images

Montas entered with a 1.20 ERA in five starts in Anaheim, his best mark at any ballpark, but that previous success didn’t carry over into Monday night. 

Against an Angels team that just swept Toronto after losing nine of its previous 10 games, Montas gave up a leadoff homer to Luis Rengifo in the bottom of the second, as the Yankees fell behind, 1-0. 

After left-hander Jose Suarez retired the first seven batters of the game, Isiah Kiner-Falefa walked and Cabrera singled down the right-field line to put runners on the corners for the Yankees. 

Frankie Montas pitches on Monday during the Yankees’ loss to the Angels.
AP

DJ LeMahieu, one of many slumping Yankees, then laid down a safety squeeze bunt to score Kiner-Falefa. It was another indication of how bad the Yankee offense has been, that they bunted with their leadoff hitter. 

Judge was walked intentionally before Andrew Benintendi grounded out to end the inning. 

The Yankees went ahead with Rizzo’s two-out solo shot to right in the fourth. 

It was Rizzo’s first homer since Aug. 17 and just his second since Aug. 2. 

Shohei Ohtani, left, celebrates after his home run.
USA TODAY Sports

Former Yankee Mike Ford answered with his first homer of the season with one out in the bottom of the inning. 

Kiner-Falefa opened the fourth with a double to left-center, but Cabrera struck out and LeMahieu grounded to third, keeping Kiner-Falefa at second. Judge was walked intentionally for a second time and Benintendi flied to right. 

Ohtani’s blast to right-center gave the Angels their first lead of the night, 4-2. It was Ohtani’s 29th homer of the season. 

Judge got the Yankees back to within a run, but Suarez — who gave up just two runs in six innings — and the Angels’ bullpen did enough to keep the struggling Yankee offense down. 

Aaron Judge hit his 50th home run Monday night.
AP

Gleyber Torres went hitless again and made a careless mistake in the bottom of the seventh, when he failed to touch second base on what should have been an inning-ending double play. 

And Montas, the team’s consolation prize when they couldn’t land top target Luis Castillo, now has a 7.01 ERA in five starts as a Yankee.

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Mets’ Francisco Lindor cooling off after red-hot stretch

After a red-hot stretch for over a month from July into August, Francisco Lindor has cooled off over the past week. 

With an 0-for-4 effort in the Mets’ 1-0 loss to the Rockies on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field, Lindor dropped to 0-for-17 with five walks over his last five games. 

“I said it was going to happen,” said Lindor, who had plenty of company on Sunday in a quiet game for the Mets’ offense. “It’s part of the year. I’m going to have good times and I’m going to have bad times. Hopefully I can get out of it sooner rather than later.” 

Francisco Lindor grounds out during the Mets’ loss to the Rockies.
Jason Szenes

Before this recent stretch, Lindor had not gone more than one game without a hit since July 6. This is the first time all season Lindor has gone five straight games without a hit, an indication of the overall strong year the shortstop has put together. 

That had especially been the case of late, as Lindor hit .352/.417/.545 across 37 games from July 11 to Aug. 21. But in six games since, he is 1-for-21 with five walks and six strikeouts with the Mets going 3-3. 

“Just part of the game,” Lindor said. “[Maybe] I’m going to go 10-for-10 against the Dodgers or I’m going to go 0-for-10, who knows? Just gotta be better.” 

Manager Buck Showalter did not seem to put too much stock into Lindor’s brief cold stretch. 

“Facing some good pitching,” Showalter said. “There’s an ebb and flow to the season. Obviously he’s been out there posting up for us and playing solid shortstop. He’s been a consistent guy. Everybody in that lineup has had ups and downs. 

“These guys spoil us with a high level of play so when you don’t have a couple of hits or something, it’s like, ‘What’s wrong?’ Sometimes what’s wrong is the other team was really good that day.”

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Yankees drop ugly 11-inning loss to A’s as five-game win streak ends

OAKLAND, Calif. — After the Yankees were two outs away from a sixth straight win, they blew a lead in the 10th and lost to the hapless A’s, 3-2, in the 11th Saturday night.

The A’s scored the winning run when DJ LeMahieu made a throwing error on what should have been an inning-ending double play on Chad Pinder’s ground ball.

LeMahieu’s wild throw after the feed from Isiah Kiner-Falefa got by Anthony Rizzo at first and allowed automatic runner Shea Langeliers to score with one out in the 11th.

Trivino walked Seth Brown to lead off the 11th and was checked on by the trainers.

Stephen Vogt (right) celebrates with Chad Pinder after belting the game-tying homer in the 10th inning of the Yankees’ 3-2, 11-inning loss to the A’s.
AP

The Yankees had their chances earlier, as Ron Marinaccio allowed a game-tying, two-run homer to pinch-hitter Stephen Vogt with one out in the bottom of the 10th, which wasted a two-run rally in the top of the inning, as well as a terrific outing from Domingo German, who tossed 7 ²/₃ shutout innings.

Since second-place Tampa Bay also lost on Saturday, the Yankees’ lead in the AL East remained at 8 ¹/₂ games.

Perhaps worst of all, the Yankees got just one hit in the 11 innings.

They were able to take advantage of some wild pitching by A.J. Puk to score a pair of runs in the top of the 10th. Andrew Benintendi opened the inning by bunting right back to Puk, who threw out automatic runner Kyle Higashioka at third. Aaron Judge struck out, and Benintendi stole second. Josh Donaldson was walked intentionally, and Puk drilled Rizzo high on the shoulder to load the bases.

A clearly rattled Puk then nearly threw wildly with LeMahieu at the plate, but acrobatic catcher Sean Murphy saved him. But Murphy couldn’t bail Puk out later in the at-bat as a wild pitch got away from him to allow Benintendi to put the Yankees ahead.

Murphy’s flip to Puk at the plate was errant, and Donaldson came around to score a second run on the error.

The 10th-inning dramatics came after German and Oakland right-hander Adam Oller both took no-hitters into the sixth inning.

Anthony Rizzo gets hit by a pitch in the 10th inning of the Yankees’ loss.
USA TODAY Sports

In front of a crowd of 36,529 at Oakland Coliseum — many of the fans there for a postgame drone show — the Yankees didn’t get a hit until Oswaldo Cabrera doubled to right-center to open the top of the sixth.

He was then thrown out trying to steal third, when Oller stepped off the mound and fired to third.

Oller allowed just one hit in his eight shutout innings and faced the minimum number of batters.

After Judge made a nice play in center on a long fly ball by Cal Stevenson in the bottom of the sixth, German gave up an infield hit on a comebacker by Nick Allen and threw the ball away, allowing Allen to get to second, but German retired the next two batters.

Earlier in the game, Cabrera was robbed of an extra-base hit in right by Chad Pinder, who crashed into the wall as he made the catch.

Oakland’s only base runner until the sixth came when German hit Jonah Bride with a pitch to lead off the bottom of the third.

The Yankees barely even hit any balls hard off of Oller, who entered the game with an ERA of 6.41, but had pitched better in his previous three starts. Yet he certainly didn’t seem like a likely candidate to shut down the Yankees.

German was even more dominant, needing just 48 pitches to get through five innings.

He allowed a one-out double to Stevenson in the eighth and Stevenson moved to third on a grounder to second by Allen before being replaced by Jonathan Loaisiga, who got Tony Kemp to ground out to end the inning.

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Padres unlikely to challenge Fernando Tatis Jr. contract

For a variety of reasons, including the Padres’ belief that Fernando Tatis Jr. didn’t need the clostebol and just made a foolish mistake, word is it’s “highly unlikely” the team will try to challenge his $340 million, 14-year contract.

Though teams are disallowed from invalidating contracts over a PED suspension, the previous mistake of the motorcycle accident or accidents that cost Tatis two-thirds of the season may have provided an opening to try to turn some or all of the contract from guaranteed to non-guaranteed. The difficulty in beating the union in a grievance and the relatively low salary this year ($5 million) were weighed, but the strong belief in Tatis as a player apparently was the biggest factor not to act. Of course, future transgressions could alter the team’s thinking.

The Padres (10-12 since the deadline) are trying to figure out why the team is going south following its great trade deadline. They believe it can’t be the manager this time, since they have Bob Melvin.

One thing we were reminded of again was that Tatis took out a big loan from Big League Advance with the promise to pay a big percentage of future earnings. Though it’s understandable many underprivileged prospects go this route, it’s curious why the son of a former MLB player who averaged $1.6 million over a 13-year career would need money and chose to do this. He reportedly gave up approximately $28 million — for a probable pittance. Yes, there’s been a lot of questionable decision-making going on in the Tatis household.

Joey Gallo’s move from Manhattan to Manhattan Beach, his new residence, has paid off (1.010 OPS in L.A.). He said he feels more comfortable seeing people in flip flops, and that his new rent is comparable to his “small” apartment on NYC’s Upper West Side. (Gallo never complained while here, to his credit, and rents are high, but if your apartment is small, and you make $10 million, get a bigger one.)

Fernando Tatis Jr. leaves a press conference with the media about his 80-game suspension.
AP

The Orioles are building something good. No. 1 pick Jackson Holliday hit .409 with 10 walks and two strikeouts in his first pro-ball stop before his move to low-A Delmarva. And Adley Rutschman already looks like a superstar. The Orioles should lock him up if they have the money.

It was interesting to see Joe Maddon with a critical take on analytics since he was the Rays manager when they helped start the analytic revolution. He did have some points. Are we old-school here thinking managers should make some in-game baseball decisions?

Meantime, kudos to Cubs manager David Ross, who’s kept that outmanned team playing hard (19-13 since the break).

Arte Moreno’s best baseball decision was buying the Angels for $184 million in 2003. And selling may be an even better decision.

The Angels have a chance to become the first team to fetch $3 billion. Assist to Shohei Ohtani there.

Player of the Week: Albert Pujols, Cardinals DH. Runners-up: Justin Verlander, Astros SP; Lars Nootbar, Cardinals OF

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Yankees look to continue new-found momentum on West Coast trip

Three wins can’t fully erase a rough monthlong slide, but perhaps they can send the Yankees on their way out of it.

For the first time in a while, the Yankees were feeling good about themselves Tuesday night after they finished off a two-game sweep of the Mets. That series victory followed a win Sunday over the Blue Jays, and gave the Yankees a three-game winning streak for the first time since July 28-30.

The Yankees’ mojo had largely gone missing during a 9-20 stretch coming out of the All-Star break (at which point they were still playing at a 113-win pace), especially during the more recent 2-9 skid in which their offense went ice cold. But they looked like a team that was starting to rediscover it over their last three games.

Giancarlo Stanton is expected to return to the Yankees’ lineup against the A’s.
N.Y. Post/Charles Wenzelberg

Now, they will have a chance to reinforce that winning feeling — and to get Giancarlo Stanton back from the injured list to help — when they open a four-game series against the last-place Athletics on Thursday in Oakland, Calif., before visiting the struggling Angels next week.

“I think it’s tough to have a little bit of swagger when you keep losing games and dropping series and not playing your brand of baseball,” Aaron Judge said late Tuesday night before the Yankees flew west. “But I think the swagger’s always been there. I think it just took a little reminder of who we are and what type of baseball we play and going back to doing the basics. We got it back.”

Of course, it helps that Judge has returned to MVP form. After he went through a small rut while the rest of the lineup was also struggling, Judge crushed a home run in each of the two wins over the Mets.

“The dude is pretty much the best hitter right now,” Frankie Montas said after turning in his best start as a Yankee on Tuesday night.

In addition to Judge’s resurgence and signs that Montas is settling in, the Yankees have recently displayed other reasons to believe that they might just be emerging from their funk.

They played two mostly crisp games against the Mets, with their strong defense flashing once again — especially on a pair of double plays between Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Gleyber Torres on Tuesday night. There was a dropped pop-up between Oswaldo Cabrera and Marwin Gonzalez in right field on Monday and Torres (unsuccessfully) racing Jeff McNeil to second base while allowing Pete Alonso to score from third on Tuesday, but manager Aaron Boone attributed both to the amped-up crowd noise.

Timely hits from Andrew Benintendi also played a key role in all three wins. After a cold start in pinstripes, he is batting .310 with nine extra-base hits and a .892 OPS over his last 16 games.

“He’s been big-time,” Judge said. “I told him, ‘Hey, keep leading us. Keep being a guy that can come up in big spots.’ ”

Then there is Cabrera, whose arrival has also given the Yankees a boost. The versatile rookie seemingly has made his presence felt in at least one way every game.

There are still a few areas that offer cause for concern, though, leading with the bullpen. While some unlikely arms helped close out three straight 4-2 wins, the relief corps remains unsettled, with a mix of inconsistency and injuries popping up of late.

And in the lineup, not everyone is out of their slumps just yet. Josh Donaldson is still batting 6-for-44 (.136) with 17 strikeouts and a .445 OPS over his last 12 games, though his walk-off grand slam on Aug. 17 against the Rays certainly helped.

But the Yankees still came out of a tough nine-game homestand looking much better than when they started it.

“I think the most important thing is we learned from it,” Judge said. “We learned about what not to do. That if we don’t do the little things, we don’t make the little plays and prepare the right way, teams are going to come after us. I think it comes back to learn from those mistakes, learn from those series and time to move on to the next one.”

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Aaron Judge continues to be everything for Yankees

The MVP long ago decided, Aaron Judge is taking pennant-race matters into his own very large hands. He took over the Subway Series, hitting early stage-setting home runs in both games, driving in half the runs Tuesday in Game 2, lifting the Yankees out of their inexplicable funk and restoring faith in a team that’s suddenly looking like a powerhouse again.

Judge’s latest work of art landed 453 feet from home plate, a 115 mph drive deep into the lower deck in left field at Yankee Stadium that was home run No. 48. Now let’s see how far he can carry this Yankees ballclub that started to show a few too many cracks over the past month plus.

Singlehandedly, he turned a depression into a celebration almost as fast as he turned around replacement starter Taijuan Walker’s 3-and-2, fourth-inning offering. Judge is back on pace to beat Roger Maris, the Yankees’ lead seems pretty secure and all is right in The Bronx, at least for the moment.

Walker and recent Yankees acquisition Frankie Montas were locked in a scoreless duel when Judge pulled this one into oblivion, the key blow in a needed sweep for the Yankees, who spent the better part of a month searching for answers. This second straight 4-2 victory over the Mets before another sellout crowd at Yankee Stadium sealed the sweep and had to feel especially good after the disastrous last several weeks caused doubt to creep into the Yankees lexicon for the first time in a year that began magically.

Aaron Judge belts a solo home run in the fourth inning of the Yankees’ 4-2 win over the Mets.
AP

Yankees manager Aaron Boone seemed to stop the losing with that forceful slap of the interview table late Saturday. Then Judge began the winning, as he has done all year, and the Yankees are three in a row to the good.

If he has to, and at times it seems like he may, he will do it by himself.

The Yankees continue to show cracks, so he may have no choice.

In the Mets’ first run-scoring inning, Yankees backup catcher Kyle Higashioka helped the visitors by allowing rookie Brett Baty to reach base via catcher’s interference. In the Mets’ second run, Gleyber Torres became fixated on the trail runner, trying to beat Jeff McNeil back to the second-base bag as Pete Alonso scampered home. Alonso at first tried to hustling back to third after tripping rounding the bag, but once he saw Torres lost sight of the situation, he ran home.

Aaron Judge celebrates with Andrew Benintendi after the Yankees’ win.
Corey Sipkin

The Yankees were due assists on both Mets runs. Keith Hernandez had to be calling out the atrocious fundies.

It was a wild one.

Then the Mets gave one back. The Yankees scored their third run when Alonso failed to catch a high pop-up in short right field, as he turned every which way but the right way. Alonso had quite an eventful game. Earlier he broke his huge bat over his knee following a strikeout. He did not do the same to his glove, though we imagine he has that capability.

Alonso is probably the Mets’ MVP so it’s advisable for him not to try to have any more fights with his lumber. Judge, meantime, is the MVP of the Yankees, the league, everything. And, by the way, he scorched a line single to drive home Jose Trevino with the insurance run, the final dagger in a two-day, one-man display.

It’s uncertain if anyone’s had a year like this.

Aaron Judge rips an RBI single in the seventh inning of the Yankees’ victory.
Robert Sabo

Maybe Mickey Mantle in 1956 when he won the Triple Crown.

Or Carl Yastrzemski, who went on an impossible streak in the Impossible Dream season of 1967.

Or Barry Bonds a bunch of times. Although, we don’t really count those. Not in this space.

Judge, now on pace for 62 home runs, took over this series, and long ago he took over this season.

There are still those few holdouts who suggest the great Shohei Ohtani for MVP. Ohtani is the most amazing player. The most miraculous player.

But he is not the MVP. The MVP is the guy who’s shown his own sort of versatility.

The guy who plays center field because they need it even though he is 6-foot-7 and 280 pounds. And he does it as gracefully as nearly anyone. He glided back to the wall to make a one-handed catch on a Brandon Nimmo drive with one on and one out in the eighth.

The guy who leads the league in every slugging category but will bat leadoff if called upon. And do it happily.

The guy who will fix anything that’s broken in the clubhouse. The guy who will stand up and tell a teammate when he did wrong, as he did when Josh Donaldson stepped out of line early. You’ll notice no one else has stepped out of line.

The guy who will talk and explain what’s going on when everything’s going wrong. And that was happening for a month, or more.

But now things are back to normal. And Judge is in the center of it, doing whatever he can to make things right.

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