NEW YORK – Aaron Judge downplayed another missed first-inning opportunity, when the Yankees had a second Kansas City Royals starter instantly on the ropes.
“(It’s) a long ballgame,’’ the Yanks captain said. “You’d like to get (on the board) there in the first, give your team a lead, but…we’ll get ‘em next time.’’
On Saturday night, the Yankees still found a route to a one-run victory.
Different story in Monday night’s AL Division Series Game 2 at Yankee Stadium, where the Royals handed them a 4-2 loss and a split in this best-of-five series.
And they’ll have some fresh bulletin board material waiting at Kauffman Stadium, courtesy of Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr.
“We still don’t feel like any team is better than us,’’ Chisholm Jr. said. “They just got lucky.’’
Yankees give away a golden chance against Royals
With appreciation for Chisholm Jr.’s candor, and acknowledgement of some scorched contact that landed in Royal glove, certain realities follow the AL East champs to KC.
Aaron Boone’s club is 3-for-19 with runners in scoring position, the Juan Soto-Judge super duo has yet to drive in a run, and the Royals’ once-maligned bullpen is gaining confidence by the inning.
Oh, and star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. made a difference defensively Monday, but he was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts – 0-for-10 in the ALDS – and the Royals still got it done.
Judge is 1-for-7 with two walks, an infield hit and four strikeouts – two of them coming in key, early spots.
Saturday, he batted with runners at second and third with none out and struck out against Michael Wacha.
Monday, Cole Ragans opened by walking Gleyber Torres and Soto, and Judge swung through a 1-2 fastball.
Each time, the Yankees came away empty, and Yankees Universe became a little more aware of Judge’s pedestrian (by his standards) postseason numbers.
Yankees need their game breakers now
In the Yankees’ 2022 AL Championship Series sweep by the Houston Astros, Judge’s 1-for-17 with zero RBI could be partly attributed to the exhausting pursuit of 62 homers – setting the single season AL record – and some undefined physical issues.
This time, Judge has seemingly arrived at October in superb shape, coming off a tremendous MVP-worthy regular season and with Soto, one of the game’s great offensive threats, as his wingman.
Naturally, it’s going to take the whole ensemble – even in this postseason Fastlane that the Yanks have found themselves, with the Astros and Baltimore Orioles gone, goodbye.
But they’ll need their gamebreakers to start helping the Yankees to some crooked-number innings.
“We’ve got to come through in those situations,’’ Judge said of the club as a whole, noting some hard-hit, hard luck spots – like Giancarlo Stanton’s 109.9-mph bullet that Witt Jr. turned into a double play to end the eighth.
“Couple of those fall in (then) it’s a different ballgame. Didn’t happen.’’ Said Judge. “We’ve got to show up in Kansas City.’’
And when they do, who’ll be waiting but Game 3 starter Seth Lugo, who used his kitchen-sink arsenal to blank the Yanks over seven innings in a September win at the Stadium.
Carlos Rodon starts fast, exits early
A wobbly Ragans lasted just four innings and yielded four walks, but he was the better lefty starter in Game 2.
Rodon came out blazing, striking out the side and dodging a third inning jam, showing fire and emotion and getting the 48,034 fans screaming with him for joy.
And then Salvador Perez launched a leadoff homer in the fourth, and Rodon never made it out of the inning – charged with all four runs.
Perez has worn out Rodon, now with four homers and a .464 batting average off the lefty in 28 at-bats, including postseason.
Judge had noted Rodon's electric fastball as a key to his fast start Monday, but the slider usage increased - it was three straight sliders to Perez, who lashed a 2-0 slider into the left field seats.
Judge threatened to plant one in the right field seats in the third, but his bid for a two-run homer faded at the warning trick.
“I just sliced it a little bit. Tried to beat (Ragans) to that spot, and just kind of cut it a little bit,’’ said Judge. “We get that one to get into the seats, it’s a different ballgame.’’
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Aaron Judge, Yankees swing and miss on their chances, lose their grip on ALDS
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