Photo: Harry How/Getty Images
Everyone knows what Aaron Judge is capable of with his bat, but it’s time to start giving him credit for what he does with his glove. On Saturday at Dodger Stadium he made a play that will be talked about for a long time and that was key in the New York Yankees win over Los Angeles Dodgers 6-3.
With his team up 5-3 in the eighth inning and a runner on with no outs, Aaron Judge caught a deep drive from JD Martinez that could easily have been an extra base hit, but the right fielder ran back, reached out and stayed. With the ball. Then Judge took a hard crash against his team’s bullpen gate, which gave way on impact. Judge ended up in the bullpen being helped by his teammatesbut the play prevented a run and possibly a rally for the Dodgers, who won the first game of this duel of giants on Friday.
“They need to make a stronger fence,” Judge told the FOX reporter after the game when asked about the play, after which filmmaker Spike Lee rose from his front-row seat and shed his jacket to show the No. 99 jersey he was wearing.
The 2022 AL MVP had robbed the Seattle Mariners of a home run in a game earlier in the week, and his list of big hitters continues to grow.
Before your fantasy cast, Judge had moved thousands of Yankees fans at Dodger Stadium in the sixth inning by hitting a home run lonesome, a line that barely cleared the fence in the left field corner, to make it 5-1 and reach 19 homers this season.
Dodgers couldn’t handle Gerrit Cole’s pitching
Pitcher Gerrit Cole (7-0) started for the Yankees and was dominant: 6 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 5 strikeouts and 2 walks. He got huge support from Jake Bauers, who hit two two-run home runs, first in the second inning and then in the fourth against Michael Grove, who was the beaten pitcher.
The Dodgers’ best chance to come back was in the seventh inning, when they scored twice on Miguel Vargas’ RBI triple and Miguel Rojas’ single to make it 5-3. against reliever Wandy Peralta, however they were later denied the timely hit, including strong liner drives from Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman direct to Yankee infielders.
Oswaldo Cabrera added a solo shot in the ninth for New York off Mexican reliever Victor Gonzalez for the final score and Clay Holmes got the final three outs for the save. All of New York’s runs in the series (10) have come from home runs (7).
The series will end this Sunday starting at 4:10 pm Pacific (ESPN).
Keep reading:
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– “He is an innate winner”: this is how the legendary Pedro Martínez defines the Mexican Julio Urías
– Clayton Kershaw adds a new record after his superb performance against the Yankees