ESPN: Aaron Judge’s late home run forcing overtime in 10 innings were all in vain.
Aaron Judge’s ninth-inning homer forced overtime after the Yankees offense failed to identify Garrett Crochet for eight innings, and the Red Sox defeated them 2-1 in the tenth inning on Friday night in Boston.
The Yankees left four runners on base and went one for four with runners in scoring position. Prior to Judge’s outburst, the lineup’s top four batters went a combined 0-for-14. The slugger struck out three times and went 1-for-4. His season average has fallen to.390.
These are the lessons learned.
-Last weekend, the Yankees scored five runs against Crochet, but Friday night was different. Crochet only threw 45 pitches in four innings, giving up one hit and one walk. Until the sixth, he kept cruising. A DJ LeMahieu single placed runners on the corners with no outs after a throwing error enabled Jasson Dominguez to reach safely and after swiping second. Paul Goldschmidt grounded out to eliminate the threat after Austin Wells and Oswald Peraza both struck out.
It wouldn’t be until the ninth that the Yankees would even pose a danger to Crochet. The southpaw, who had previously struck out the slugger three times, faced Judge for the fourth time in this game with one out with Crochet still on the mound. Despite fending off two fastballs that reached 100 mph, Judge tied the game at one by smashing a 99.6 mph fastball 443 feet in the other direction, over the Green Monster and onto Lansdowne Street, on the seventh pitch of the at-bat.
After giving up the home run, the Red Sox left-hander was pulled. In 8.1 innings, he threw 107 pitches (72 strikes), gave up one run on four hits, and walked one batter while striking out seven.
-The Yankees forced extras in the 10th inning thanks to Judge’s home run, but they did not assist themselves. As the ghost runner, Anthony Volpe tried to take third place but was disqualified due to an overturned call. LeMahieu seemed to have a two-out hit down the right-field line, but the call was upheld after a challenge and it was declared foul on the field. Aaron Boone was dismissed as a result, and LeMahieu was tossed for the first time in his career after he said something to the first base umpire after grounding out to finish the 10th.
-The Red Sox pushed the phantom runner to third on a ground out in the bottom half of the inning. Additionally, Carlos Narvaez knocked a single off the Green Monster to end the game after Tim Hill got Marcelo Mayer to strike out after Rafael Devers was purposefully walked.
Compared to his previous encounter with the Red Sox, Ryan Yarbrough performed better. But early on, he pitched into and out of difficulty. After a single by Cedanne Rafaela brought in Trevor Story from second base in the second inning, he was unable to stop a run from scoring despite stranding two walks in the first. However, the southpaw calmed down and matched Crochet’s zeros after that. In the sixth, however, that was altered. Boone lifted his starter for Jonathan Loaisiga after Yarbrough struck out Devers after letting the two hitters reach on a walk and single with one out.
Yarbrough’s night came to an end when Loaisiga struck out Romy Gonzalez to eliminate the threat.
