On Saturday, Boone again defended Cole’s performance in Friday’s win, when he allowed a game-tying homer to Alex Verdugo in the sixth and then got ejected for yelling at home plate umpire Brian Knight as he walked off the mound.
“I thought he threw the ball awesome [Friday] night,’’ Boone said.
Cole has allowed 10 homers in his last six games and has matched his career-high with 31 home runs.
“It is remarkable,’’ Boone said. “A pretty dominant outing and one pitch at the end wrecks the line. We’re doing all we can to avoid those certain things.”
Gerrit Cole gave up four runs in six innings against the Red Sox on Friday.Charles Wenzelberg / New York PoAaron BooneJohn Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock
“It’s crazy that has happened,’’ Boone said. “The bottom line is we’ve got a guy throwing the ball incredibly well right now, with every capability to go out there and dominate.’’
“If he executes at a high level, he can shut down anyone,’’ Boone said. “He’s in that place to do that. We’ve got to get [over] that hump. The only thing to change that narrative is to go out and avoid that one big one. That’s all it’s been is one big one here and there.”
“There will be some opportunities there for Aaron,” Boone said of Hicks, who will likely play on Sunday. “I liked him [Friday] from the right side [against left-hander Rich Hill] and he had good at- bats, too, later in the game.”
Aaron Hicks’ playing time remains “fluid,” said Aaron Boone.Getty Images
Hicks recently complained about his playing time and Boone said recently there would be competition for time in left field after the arrival of Harrison Bader.
Of Hicks’ playing time Boone said Saturday, “It’ll remain fluid each and every day… He has to be ready to make the most of his opportunities.”
In his last four games, Hicks is 7-for-15, with a double and two homers, as well as three RBIs.
Hicks hasn’t walked in the stretch and has struck out six times.
“He’s worked hard all year on his hitting,’’ Boone said. “For him to get results the last couple times out has been big.”
How do you tick off 46,175 New Yorkers in the middle of an eight-run Yankees eighth inning? You walk Aaron Judge.
Judge’s fourth at-bat Wednesday night came and went anticlimactically in the seventh inning, when he grounded out on the first pitch to him from the Pirates’ Miguel Yajure. The main reason most of the fans at Yankee Stadium had stuck around was to watch Judge attempt to match Roger Maris’ American League record of 61 home runs.
After that groundout, the assumption was that the chase would continue for another night. Then, however, the Yankees came up in the eighth and started hitting. And all of a sudden, Judge — the eighth batter due up when the inning began — got to the plate for a fifth time.
Cue the standing, the buzz, that anticipation. Who cared about the score, which ended up 14-2? The Pirates were falling victim to an avalanche, with six Yankees runs already having scored in the inning, a man on second and one out. It looked to be Judge’s moment.
Eric Stout, though, didn’t let that happen. The lefty reliever said afterwards he wasn’t thinking about 61, Maris or any of that. But he sure did pitch as if he were, walking Judge on four pitches that weren’t especially close to the zone.
Aaron Judge got one last shot at hitting No. 61 on Wednesday, but got a walk instead.Charles Wenzelberg / New York PostEric Stout heard the boos rain down from the Yankee Stadium crowd after his eighth-inning walk of Aaron Judge.John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock
“The changeup’s been a good pitch for me this season,” Stout said. “I think that was the game plan going into the at-bat. Regardless of nobody on, bases loaded, doesn’t really matter. I got [Anthony] Rizzo behind him as a lefty. With a base open, I’m very good versus lefties this year. That was more of the approach.
“I’m not gonna give in [on] 2-0, 3-0, throw him something, regardless of who it is, especially with a lefty on deck. So that was the approach.”
The crowd responded accordingly, booing as few crowds have ever booed in the latter stages of a blowout by the home team.
“Yeah, I kind of figured that’s what the crowd reaction was gonna be,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “I’ve been to Yankee Stadium a lot of times. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody stay when the score’s like that, but you know, there was everybody in the ballpark.”
Even though the crowd left disappointed not to have witnessed history, fans did see Judge double twice, reach base three times and score twice. Following his 60th home run on Tuesday, that added up to this assessment from Shelton when asked about how his 55-94 ballclub handled Judge:
“I mean,” Shelton said, “he hit the one home run. … You have to be able, not only with him, but with the entire lineup, you have to be able to execute pitches.
MILWAUKEE — Catcher Jose Trevino left the Yankees’ 7-6 loss to the Brewers in the seventh inning Friday night with a right knee contusion after he took a foul ball off his right knee in the bottom of the fifth.
Trevino initially remained in the game and caught the sixth before Kyle Higashioka came up to pinch hit for him leading off the top of the seventh.
“He was compromised,’’ manager Aaron Boone said of Trevino.
Marwin Gonzalez also was removed to start the bottom of the sixth with dizziness, Boone said.
Gonzalez started the game at first base and when he came out, Oswaldo Cabrera moved from right field to first, making his first appearance at the position in his professional career.
“That’s a tough spot, but he’s got that makeup that he’s gonna handle himself,’’ Boone said. “Not ideal, but that’s where we are right now from an injury standpoint.”
Jose TrevinoAP
Harrison Bader could make his Yankees debut soon, manager Aaron Boone said, adding the center fielder could be in The Bronx as Tuesday after rehabbing from the plantar fasciitis that has sidelined him since before he was acquired from St. Louis in exchange for Jordan Montgomery.
Boone made it clear prior to the game what Bader’s role will be: “Center fielder.”
“He’s a premium, maybe the best, defensive outfielder in the league,’’ Boone said. “I think we’re adding a significant player to our lineup.”
Bader was off Friday and scheduled to play minor league rehab games Saturday and Sunday. If he and the Yankees decide he’s ready, the Bronxville native will be with the Yankees when they open their homestand against the Pirates.
The right-handed hitting Bader has had a rough season at the plate, with a .673 OPS in 264 plate appearances for the Cardinals, but he has swung the bat well during his rehab assignment.
He was acquired, though, for his defense and speed.
Harrison BaderN.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg
Bader will give the Yankees some much-needed outfield depth, as Aaron Judge has been forced into playing center, with the slumping Aaron Hicks in left and Cabrera in right.
Boone didn’t rule out the possibility of moving Cabrera to left when Bader is in the lineup in center, with Judge back in right.
Giancarlo Stanton is not an option in the outfield and won’t be for the foreseeable future, as he returns from the injury suffered when he fouled a ball off his foot.
Boone said Stanton’s return to the outfield was “on pause,” but didn’t rule it out down the road, pointing to the fact he stayed healthy last year while playing some outfield.
Luis Severino is scheduled to rejoin the rotation on Wednesday after another solid rehab outing with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday. Boone said the right-hander, sidelined since mid-July with a strained lat, isn’t completely built up, but he expects Severino to have an immediate impact.
“It’s Luis Severino,’’ Boone said. “He’s Severino. He’s having an excellent year for us and can match up with a lot of really good pitchers.”
Anthony Rizzo took batting practice against rehabbing Scott Effross and continues to feel good in his return from lower back tightness and headaches following an epidural.
Boone said there’s a “chance” Rizzo will be in the lineup Sunday against the Brewers and he believes the time off will have served the first baseman well.
“What’s exciting is that he was grinding with the back even before he went on the IL,’’ Boone said. “That’s he’s feeling good is encouraging. It allows him to impact us.”
Oswald Peraza entered Friday having not played in a week, with Isiah Kiner-Falefa performing well, though he made a big error in the eighth inning of the Yankees’ loss. Boone said Peraza might be at shortstop on Saturday.
Jasson Dominguez was among the Yankees prospects selected to play in the Arizona Fall League following the season.
The most important hit at Fenway Park, relative to the game Tuesday night, came later, off the bat of Gleyber Torres. It cleared the bases and gave the Yankees a 7-4 lead in the 10th-inning, and they held on for a 7-6 win that helped nudge the Red Sox a little bit deeper into their deep winter’s sleep.
It was a fine footnote. An afterthought.
That, as much as anything, tells you about the rarefied place that Aaron Judge occupies now. It’s supposed to be anathema, a mortal sin, to hint that any one player is bigger than The Game. But that’s what Judge is now. That’s what Judge has been all across this magnificent season. He is bigger than any game he plays.
Judge clobbered two more home runs, No. 56 and No. 57, inching him closer to Roger Maris. Only four men in the history of the American League — an operation that only dates to 1901 — have hit more home runs in one season than Judge: Hank Greenberg, Jimmie Foxx, Babe Ruth (twice) and Maris. And Judge still has 20 games left to inflate that number and send it into outer space.
But that’s not all. As has been the case most of the year, Judge’s homers were essential, they were oxygen for the Yankees. The first one, a cannon blast hit the other way to the heartbreakingly deep Fenway power alley in right, tied the score at 3-3 in the sixth inning. The second one, splattered over the Green Monster in left, tied the score at 4-4 in the eighth.
Judge’s last at bat came in the 10th inning. There were two outs and a man on third with the score tied, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora raised four fingers before Judge even walked out of the on-deck circle. You wonder if that won’t be a more common occurrence these last few weeks of the season, managers deciding that discretion is the better part of valor.
Aaron Judge hits homer No. 57 during the Yankees’ 7-6, 10-inning win over the Red Sox. It was his second of the game.N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg
You hope not, though.
Because every Judge at-bat the rest of the way is going to be an event. They are going to be must-see TV. If you are a fan of the Yankees — or merely a fan of baseball — it is impossible not to want to see every pitch. Because every time he swings the bat, something splendid and spectacular could be looming.
It’s almost a surprise when he doesn’t go deep.
“However many home runs he ends up hitting, I don’t think it’s that important to him,” Judge’s manager, Aaron Boone, said before the game. “He knows where we are. It’s about going out and winning the ballgame. I think when you have that genuinely simple mindset and approach to it, it makes playing the game a lot easier.”
That’s the most amazing part of Judge’s season, when you think about it. We all know, as a matter of law, that hitting a baseball that well, that far, that often, is maybe the hardest thing to do in sports. Yet when Judge swings, and when he connects, and when he sends his majestic blasts to the far reaches of ball yards all across the game, it really does look …
Well. Easy.
Ridiculously easy. Impossibly easy.
“When we’re winning and in first place, that’s always fun, it’s been a fun year,” Judge said. “The numbers will take care of themselves.”
Aaron Judge celebrates with Giancarlo Stanton after belting his 57th homer in the Yankees’ wins.N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg
It should no longer be a subject for debate if Judge should win the MVP; the only question is if he gets all 30 first-place votes, earns the maximum 420 voting points. Shohei Ohtani, the only name feebly thrown out as competition, did that last year, and as otherworldly as that season was his team still went 77-85.
The Yankees are now 86-56. They are back to 30 games over .500, back to a comfortable lead atop the AL East with days melting off the calendar. There is little mystery why they surged early and have survived lately: because they have Judge as the anchor of their lineup. And nobody else does.
“I’m out of adjectives.” Boone said.
Late in his dream 1961 ride, Roger Maris took the day off in the 159th game of the season, causing a seismic shock. He was sitting on 60 home runs. How could he forfeit four at-bats? The way he’s going, Judge can look forward to a day off or around that time, and nobody will much complain.
Unless by then, Barry Bonds’ 73 is still in sight. It probably won’t be. But would you bet against it?
If all goes well, the Yankees may be able to dust off a new center fielder on Sept. 20.
Harrison Bader, who has not played a game with the Yankees since he was acquired from the Cardinals in the Jordan Montgomery trade, is expected to start a rehab assignment Sunday with Double-A Somerset.
Manager Aaron Boone said Bader, who has been out since late June with plantar fasciitis, will be Somerset’s designated hitter Sunday in Hartford, Conn., then will begin outfield work Tuesday.
“It’ll probably be at least a week,” the manager said Saturday before the Yankees beat the Rays, 10-3, in The Bronx. “But then if we get through that week, and the build-up is going fine, he could be in play when we start the homestand [Sept. 20 against the Pirates].”
Bader said there is “definitely discomfort” in his right foot, but he has been told he cannot further injure the foot by playing on it. The Yankees acquired the reigning NL Gold Glove center fielder knowing they would have to wait for Bader to get healthy, but they saw his defense as an eventual way to spell Aaron Judge in center.
Harrison Bader works out in the outfield before the Yankees’ 10-3 win over the Rays.N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg
The prolonged struggles of Aaron Hicks — and just about the entirety of the Yankees’ offense aside from Judge — makes any hitter welcome, even if Bader might not be ready yet.
“I’m not trying to get my timing back. I’m not trying to feel comfortable in the box,” said Bader, who posted a .673 OPS in 72 games with St. Louis. “I’m just trying to go and just understand that I can physically do something so I can come up here and play ball.”
Montgomery has gone 5-0 with a 1.45 ERA in seven starts for a Cardinals club that is running away with the NL Central. Bader, who said he only has been getting reps in center field, has had to watch his new club without being able to help.
“It’s definitely frustrating. I would say it’s more challenging than anything though,” said Bader, who was trying to find the bright side. “I’m happy that I now have a new set of tools to learn how to take care of my feet properly to make sure this never happens again.”
The Bronxville native has been a Yankee for nearly six weeks and has not been able to suit up, but he believes the wait will be over soon.
If he returns Sept. 20, he would have 16 regular season games left to make a difference.
“I couldn’t be more excited. I couldn’t be more positive,” the 28-year-old said. “I can’t wait to be in pinstripes finally. It’s been so long.”
Well, you have to give us credit. New York is not a one-dimensional baseball city. In the space of a couple of weeks we can feel completely bulletproof and utterly impotent. We can ooze pure confidence and leak oil. Both sides of town. There was a time Yankees fans and Mets fans couldn’t wait for the next game — or as they might call it, “the next win.”
Now both sides pray for rain.
OK. Maybe it’s not quite that bad. But it’s close. The past few weeks, as the Braves and the Rays have continued to chase the Mets and the Yankees and have eaten away almost all of what was a combined 26 games worth of leads between the two (the Yankees’ highest was 15 ½, the Mets’ 10 ½), baseball has become something of a chore to watch.
Both teams.
Both sides.
Still, it could be worse, and fans of both teams know perfectly well it could be worse. This isn’t the Old Days — for the purposes of this column, “Old Days” is defined as 1962-92 — when it was an all-or-nothing proposition. If old-time baseball rules — meaning only first place gets to go on to the postseason — were still in place, then Baseball New York would already be lying in state, catatonic with disappointment.
But here is a cold, hard fact:
The Mets’ magic number for qualifying for the playoffs, entering Saturday, was 10. The Yankees’ magic number was 15. That is the prize to keep the eyes affixed to. Getting in. That might not be perfect. That might not be ideal. But there is barely a fraction of a chance the teams won’t do that.
Pete Alonso’s Mets and Aaron Boone’s Yankees have struggled in September, but they still have a wild-card playoff safety net, unlike some other hard-luck past New York baseball teams.USA TODAY Sports; AP
It’s worth remembering: It wasn’t always this way. Time was, there was no safety net. And both sides of town are still smarting from past disappointments, ones that resonate even now, so many years later. Here are a few of the worst of times.
1985
The Mets and the Yankees both suffered and bled, pursuing teams (the Cardinals and Blue Jays) that were resilient and persistent and, ultimately, uncatchable. There was one remarkable day — Sept. 12, 1985 — in which the Mets beat the Cardinals at Shea in the afternoon and the Yankees beat the Jays at the Stadium at night. The Mets were a game up, the Yankees 1 ½ back, and visions of a Subway Series were beginning to dance in all the boroughs …
But both fell short. The Mets won the first two games of a must-sweep series in St. Louis, but lost the third game, 4-3, so 98 wins was only going to be good enough for runner-up to 101-win St. Louis. And though the Yankees pulled a miracle in their own season-closing three-game series in Toronto — with Butch Wynegar hitting a game-tying homer in the ninth, followed by the winning run scoring on a dropped fly ball — even that wasn’t enough. The Yankees won 97 games. The Jays finished with 99. And that was that.
1984
The Mets had been so wretched for so long, and by rights shouldn’t have won 90 games since they were outscored for the season, 676-652. But Davey Johnson had arrived, and so had Doc Gooden, and the Mets enjoyed a fall-out-of-the-sky season as their lead in the NL East grew to as much as 4 ½ games on July 27.
But the Cubs were too much that year, and won seven straight over the Mets at one point. It was the first of six straight years when the Mets finished first or second, which with a wild-card would’ve meant more shots at the crown. But there was no wild card then.
1974
The Yankees hadn’t been in the postseason in 10 years, but they battled Baltimore right to the final weekend before a heartbreaking loss to Milwaukee on the next-to-last day of the season. That 89-73 team was followed by an increasingly successful group of Yankees, capped by the 1977-78 back-to-back champs.
But ’74 held a special place for a lot of Yankees fans because Bobby Murcer was still on the team then, and because even though they were playing home games in Queens, Yankees fans had come to embrace Shea Stadium as a terrific home-field advantage, and banners declaring “YES WE CAN” started appearing every game.
Bobby Murcer in 1979MLB Photos via Getty Images
1954
Remarkable thing: None of the five straight Yankees champs from 1949-53 that coincided with Casey Stengel’s first five years ever won 100 games. The ’54 edition won 103 — and finished eight full games behind Cleveland, which went 111-43 and won the American League going away. The Yankees spent just five days that year in first place, the last on July 20, and though they were terrific, it never mattered because Cleveland never faltered.
Vac’s Whacks
OK. I did it. I really did. As I pledged last week, I found five wins for the Jets — I’m calling 5-12 — and five wins for the Giants — softer schedule, more winnable games, so we’ll make it 6-11. Now can we just fast-forward to the draft, aka the New York Super Bowl?
Our world changed forever 21 years ago Sunday. Al Leiter, John Franco and Todd Zeile, all members of the 2001 Mets, have pledged never to forget, which is why they continued their September ritual this week and visited Engine 33 in Manhattan.
On the day Queen Elizabeth II was born, Babe Ruth had hit just 310 home runs. Of all the fun facts compiled in the wake of her passing this week, that’s the one I enjoy most.
Barry Pepper played Roger Maris in “61*”.Courtesy Everett Collection.
In the spirit of the season, I rewatched “61*” the other day. And more than ever, Billy Crystal’s loving and painstaking attention to detail — plus the fact that both Barry Pepper (above) and Thomas Jane look just like the M&M Boys — make that movie hold up very, very well.
Whack Back at Vac
George Corchia: Giants fans are sooo used to the 0-and-something starts to the NFL season. It’s just a question of guessing the total number of losses before the first win: 0-2, 0-3, 0-4 … ?
Vac: You know what I miss? I miss confident Giants fans. I never thought I’d miss confident Giants fans (and confident Yankees fans), but I do. I really do.
Christopher Sheldon: Aaron Judge’s chase for the record is impressive, but I want him to hit 61 in 154 games. To me, that would be a record that even The Babe would tip his cap to.
Vac: I’m not here to diminish what Maris did, not a bit, and it was a disgrace to stick him with an asterisk all those years. But that doesn’t mean Babe Ruth getting eight fewer games than Maris shouldn’t at least be PART of the conversation, right?
@infinite1555: I get that both New York football teams playing at 1 p.m. slot is a demotion in this market, but as a fan I don’t mind it.
@MikeVacc: Giants fans will watch the Giants and Jets fans will watch the Jets, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But I go back to my house as a kid where we watched every minute (barring TV blackouts) of both teams, which you can’t do when they’re head-to-head. Maybe mine is a lonely voice on this one.
Jeffrey Cohen: Often seen in the past where no-name players — including ones brought up from the minors — can spark a team, like Al Weiss. Do the Mets have anyone in the wings who might do the same?
Vac: Unfortunately the two most likely candidates — Francisco Alvarez and Brett Baty — are both on the IL now.
While the loudest boos were reserved for Aaron Hicks, who was pulled mid-game after a pair of defensive miscues in left field, the rest of the Yankees were not immune from the grumblings as they lost to the Rays 4-2 in front of a sellout crowd of 46,160.
After the rough start to a critical series against the Rays (78-58), the Yankees (83-56) now lead Tampa Bay by just 3 ½ games in the AL East. That’s the smallest their division lead has been since May 9.
Another stripped-down Yankees lineup could not mount any offense against Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen, who struck out 10 over six shutout innings. The Yankees scored a pair of runs against the Rays bullpen, but it wasn’t enough.
“The season waits for no one,” manager Aaron Boone said before the game. “Our job is to prepare as best we can for a really good opponent. … We know where we are, we know we’re banged up, we know we’re certainly in the midst of some adversity from a roster standpoint. But it’s opportunity for guys and we gotta get ready to play.”
Aaron Hicks reacts after striking out to end the first inning. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
A reprieve from the boos came in the seventh inning, when Aaron Judge, naturally, roped an RBI single off lefty reliever Jalen Beeks that scored Oswald Peraza — who ducked under the tag at home and was ruled safe upon replay review — to get the Yankees within 4-1.
Another came in the ninth, when Kyle Higashioka crushed a solo homer to make it 4-2. After Marwin Gonzalez flew out to the warning track, Judge drew a walk to bring up Gleyber Torres, who also flew out to the warning track to end it.
The Rays, meanwhile, got to Frankie Montas for four runs across 5 ²/₃ innings. Three of those runs scored on a pair of rough plays from Hicks in left field that led to him being pulled after the fourth inning.
Hicks’ first mishap came with one out and runners on first and second. Rays star Wander Franco, who went 3-for-5 in his return from an extended stay on the injured list, hit a fly ball to left field. Hicks ran to track it down, but dropped the ball just before he stepped across the foul line. He then took a few seconds to pick it up, seemingly thinking it was foul. In the process, both runners scored and Franco reached second for a double and a 3-0 lead.
Frankie Montas walks back to the dugout after the second inning. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
After Hicks was showered with loud boos and a brief “Joey Gallo” chant, Randy Arozarena came up and ripped a line drive to left that got over Hicks’ head and dropped for an RBI double that put the Rays up 4-0.
Boone then called on Estevan Florial to replace Hicks in left field to begin the fifth inning, a move that drew cheers from the exasperated crowd.
Hicks had lost his everyday job last month after the arrival of Andrew Benintendi, but recent injuries to Benintendi and a slew of other Yankees led to Hicks getting back in the lineup more regularly — as the No. 3 hitter, no less, on Friday night. He went 0-for-2 with a pair of strikeouts.
Derek Jeter looks at his Hall of Fame plaque. Robert Sabo for the NY POSTGleyber Torres reacts after striking out. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
The Rays quickly jumped on Montas in the first inning. They swung at each of the first three pitches he threw, with the latter two going for back-to-back doubles from Franco and Arozarena that gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead.
The Yankees threatened to answer in the third inning against Rasmussen, as a Judge single put runners on first and third with one out. But Torres and Hicks followed with strikeouts, each drawing boos from the crowd.
Aaron Judge’s march toward 61 continued on Wednesday when he hit his 55th homer of the season in the first game of a doubleheader against the Twins.
Though many believe Judge will be considered the new home run champ if he passes Roger Maris’ mark of 61 due to Barry Bonds PED ties, Judge himself indicated he didn’t agree, saying that Bonds’ 73 homers is still the legitimate milestone.
“The record’s the record,” Judge said after the Yankees swept the twin bill against Minnesota. “That’s what I go by. I watched him as a kid flip the ball into the bay with ease. That hasn’t changed.”
“I’m not really chasing or looking at anything,” Judge said of his move up the home run leaderboard. “It’s just happening.”
Aaron Judge belts his 55th homer of the season in the Yankees’ Game 1 win in their doubleheader sweep.N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg
And he doesn’t plan on gunning for 73, either.
“Not really,” Judge said. “That was a pretty unreal year. That’s a hard number to catch.”
Roger Maris Jr., is preparing for Judge to pass his late father’s milestone that was set in 1961 and said it was “disappointing” that Judge didn’t consider Maris’ record as the real one.
“I think a lot of people still look at Dad’s as the real record,” Maris said by phone. “So that was surprising to me.”
And he was somewhat surprised for another reason, since Judge will be a free agent after the season and while he’s going to get a tremendous contract even if he doesn’t hit another homer, he’d likely do even better if he was considered the holder of the true home run record.
“He’s got a lot on the line if that’s what he believes,” Maris said. “So he better start hitting more of them. Maybe he is going after Bonds, with the way he’s killing it lately.”
Wednesday’s homer in game one gave Judge home runs in four straight games. The recent hot streak is also making plans difficult for Maris, who would like to be at the game if Judge is set to get 62.
“This has caught everyone off guard,” Maris said. “He’s definitely killing it. I think we all expected him to get it at this point, but I don’t think anyone saw him going off like this. Anything can happen, but at this point, he looks like he’ll get to the mid-60s. And then, who knows?”
His homer on Wednesday gave Judge the franchise record for a right-handed hitter, previously held by another PED-tainted player, Alex Rodriguez.
And he’s showing no signs of the attention getting to him, which was not the case when Maris was going after Babe Ruth’s record of 60 in 1961.
“It shows how strong and consistent he is,” Maris said. “But the circumstances are way different. Dad was chasing Ruth and had [Mickey] Mantle with him. No one wanted him to get it: The writers, the commissioner, the fans. It seems like everyone is pulling for Judge.”
Including Maris — to a point.
“We like Dad having the record, but records are made to be broken and you have to like greatness and getting to see it,” he said. “You’d be crazy not to applaud what he’s doing.”
The Yankees have seen the future and it is the opposing manager giving them the finger. Four of them. Any time that Aaron Judge has a plate appearance in a meaningful spot.
The next manager who allows Judge to beat his team short of it being a tie or one-run lead with the bases loaded in the final inning should be fired on the spot. Because the rest of the Yankees lineup is hit deficient.
Imagine a high school play with Meryl Streep showing up as the lead and students filling the rest of the cast. That is the Yankees batting order these days. Judge and the Pips — and apologies to the Pips.
That the Yankees swept a doubleheader Wednesday came down to this word — Twins. They just find a way to lose to the Yankees or the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders or whoever exactly that was who took two games on Wednesday to give Minnesota 108 losses in its last 147 games against the Yankees.
Three times from the seventh inning on over the two games, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli put up four fingers to walk Judge. And the Yanks failed to score all three times. Judge now has 14 intentional walks on the season, tied with Pete Alonso for the most in the majors. When asked if he expects this treatment to continue, Aaron Boone said, “Absolutely.”
Aaron Judge, who will be walked more often going forward, homered in Game 1 for the Yankees.Robert Sabo
That reflects injury and ineptitude that has left the Yankees’ attack trapped between helpless and hopeless — with a touch of hapless thrown in. Judge is having one of the great offensive seasons ever surrounded for about a month now by less protection than an umbrella in a monsoon.
Gleyber Torres, who hit third behind Judge in both games of the doubleheader, mainly had good at-bats, which included a two-run homer in the opener. But that is not enough to scare teams into pitching to Judge. Isaiah Kiner-Falefa also had good at-bats through 21 innings. He had the tying single in the 12th inning of what would be a 5-4 Yankee win in the opener. He hit a grand slam as the big blow of a 7-1 nightcap triumph blown open on Aaron Hicks’ thee-run double with two outs in the eighth.
This is the state of the Yankees these days: Oswaldo Cabrera was 0-for-20 to begin the day and hit leadoff in the opener. He ended an 0-for-25 malaise with a walk-off single in the opener, so with a .188 average, no homers and four RBIs he hit cleanup in the nightcap.
The cleanup hitter in the opener was Ronald Guzman, called up earlier in the day. He struck out his first four times then hit into a first-to-home-to-first double play with the bases loaded and no outs in the 11th (that included Judge on via intentional walk).
DJ LeMahieu (toe) and Giancarlo Stanton (foot) were not available to pinch hit, Boone said. The manager added that LeMahieu is a candidate to join an injured list that already has Andrew Benintendi, Matt Carpenter and Anthony Rizzo. Josh Donaldson was gone on paternity leave. So Judge was amid a lineup that needed name tags.
The Yankees nevertheless have won four straight (three over Minnesota). They are 9-6 in their last 15 games. In the first eight wins in that period, Judge drove in a run in each game. He homered in seven straight wins, including hitting his 55th of the season in Wednesday’s opener before drawing three walks in the nightcap. Without him, the Yankees might be, say, 2-13 or 3-12 in this stretch and hugging infamy. Instead, they still lead the Rays by five games in the AL East.
Yankees shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa (12) hits a grand slam home run during the fourth inning.Robert Sabo
Their run prevention has remained outstanding. The Yankees used the best of their bullpen to survive Game 1 and their regeneration of Clay Holmes and Jonathan Loaisiga has been instrumental. Gerrit Cole then aced the nightcap by throwing his second-most pitches ever (118) and striking out his second most as a Yankee (14) to hold Minnesota to one run over 6 ²/₃ innings.
It will have to continue this way until the Yankees get healthy and/or more than Judge hits consistently. Because opponents are going to be very intentional in how they treat Judge and the Yankees the rest of the way. Can anyone else left in this shredded Yankees lineup make that a regrettable decision?
The Yankees were rained out Tuesday, losing a likely win against their favorite opponent, the Twins, and that was about the best of the news coming out of Yankeeland.
The way things are going, for the first time the division looks to be in serious jeopardy. The Blue Jays are finally waking up, the Rays are always better than you and I think, and the Yankees, well, they are mostly licking wounds now.
Rizzo, who beat cancer in his youth and plays through all sorts of pain, joins many of the rest of the starting lineup in sick bay. If you are scoring at home, for the starting position players alone, there are four with foot injuries, which must be a record, plus one each with a hand and a head.
In Aaron Boone’s question-and-answer session Tuesday, nearly all the queries were about various aches and pains. Halfway through, even Boone looked a little depressed. Or less upbeat than usual, anyway.
“I think there are some hopeful signs for a number of the guys,” Boone said, hopefully.
For now though, they are a mess. The lineup consists of certain AL MVP Aaron Judge plus a couple of outstanding defensive players, struggling veterans and the injury replacements. Speaking of which, journeyman first baseman Ronald Guzman appeared in the clubhouse, up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, which was the first clear sign Rizzo will miss further time.
Aaron Boone’s Yankees are banged up. (Top to bottom): Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton are battling different health issues.AP (2); Getty Images; N.Y. Post: Michelle Farsi
At some point you’d think Judge might get tired of carrying the club, but he seems to march on. The Yankees are 7-6 in their last 13, and Judge has an RBI in all seven wins, and a homer in six. Until Marwin Gonzalez broke a 0-for-29 slide and homered Monday, no one other than Judge had scored this month. So Judge is scoring most of their runs, and knocking them in, too. The question next to be answered: Can one man win a pennant single-handedly?
It remains a mystery why opposing managers keep pitching to Judge. The only one who was really catching on to what’s going on is Angels manager Phil Nevin. You’d think with all the extra analytics folks teams employ nowadays, an intentional walk would be obvious for Judge at this point. As one of Boone’s previous Yankees coaches until this year, Nevin may have a little extra inside info.
That Judge has only been intentionally walked 11 times in 577 plate appearances is an indictment of the league’s managers. Everyone says they are smart, but how smart is pitching to a guy with 54 home runs and leads the league in about that many categories? Of course, now that he is surrounded by replacement-level hitters, it’s hard to imagine they will.
DJ LeMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton were obviously trying to play through pain, as we know what they were doing wasn’t them. Andrew Benintendi had surgery Tuesday to fix the hamate bone in his right wrist. Matt Carpenter, a godsend of the first half, has a broken foot. Both are hoping to be back if the Yankees advance in the playoffs. Unfortunately, that prospect is dimming now.
Andrew Benintendi had surgery to fix the hamate bone in his right wristGetty Images
In the middle of all this pain talk, Boone had to answer a question about Josh Donaldson not hustling and being thrown out turning a sure double into an out (thank you Sweeny Murti for asking the non-injury-related question that needed to be asked). Boone said he didn’t approve and talked to Donaldson but added that he generally isn’t worried about Donaldson because he knows he’s a gamer.
Donaldson appeared to be chuckling after his predicament at second, and that wasn’t a great look either. However, the situation they are in is no joke now.
The Yankees, once overpowering their opponents, are averaging less than three runs a game over their last 29 games. During a time when their pitching has been quite good, especially their starting pitching, they are 20-31 in their last 51.
They have a chance to feel a bit better with the doubleheader scheduled for Wednesday against the Twins, as they beat Minnesota in their sleep. They are 112-39 against the Twins since 2002.
But, if opposing managers start walking Judge, you wonder where the runs are going to come from. Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Jose Trevino are mostly defensive specialists (Trevino should win the Gold Glove, and he’s actually hit much better than expected), Donaldson and Aaron Hicks are hitting well below career norms, Gleyber Torres is in a hellacious slump and Oswaldo Cabrera, for all his defensive versatility and press clippings, is hitting .190.
The injuries have decimated the Yankees to the point where the division is in real jeopardy after they looked historically good early. Fangraphs still gives the Yankees an 85 percent chance to win the AL East. Nobody from that site must have sat in on Tuesday’s interview session. Or seen any of their recent games.
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