Aaron Judge remains stuck on 61 as Yankees lose to Orioles
Yankees' Aaron Judge returns to the dugout after he struck out looking with bases loaded to end the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
On to Texas.
In the Yankees’ final regular-season home game of 2022, Aaron Judge went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts and a walk in a 3-1 loss to the Orioles on Sunday before 44,332 at Yankee Stadium. He remains tied with Roger Maris for the American League record of 61 home runs.
The Yankees have four games remaining before the playoffs, beginning on Monday against the Rangers in Arlington, Texas. The teams are playing a day-night doubleheader on Tuesday and a final single game on Wednesday.
Referring to Judge’s attempt to set the record at home, Aaron Boone said: “Obviously, that would have been amazing. But it’s really hard to hit a home run, especially when the circumstances are just a little odd around it all and where we are in the season. A lot of things have to sync up for even the greatest of the great to go deep. Obviously, would have been great here, but we move on.”
Since hitting No. 60 on Sept. 20, Judge is 7-for-30 with 18 walks, a hit-by-pitch and 14 strikeouts in 11 games. Since hitting No. 61 on Wednesday, he is 1-for-8 with five walks, a hit-by-pitch and six strikeouts.
Is he frustrated? “This is a good place to be,’’ he said. ‘Very few people get this opportunity. To do it in a Yankee uniform, tied with Roger Maris, that’s a special feat right there. It would have been nice to do it at home here for the fans, but we’ve still got four more games.”
Texas is scheduled to pitch lefthander Martin Perez on Monday, righthander Jon Gray in one of Tuesday’s games (the other starter is TBA) and righthander Glenn Otto on Wednesday.
Judge has never homered off the three known starters. He’s 1-for-9 with three walks against Perez, 0-1 with a walk against Gray and 0-for-3 against Otto, a former Yankees prospect who went to the Rangers in the ill-fated Joey Gallo trade.
“I’d like to play every day [in Texas],’’ Judge said. “Maybe not both the doubleheader games. We’ve got quite a few days off after the season [before the Division Series starts on Oct. 11].”
Said Boone, “I think it’s been a lot. I don’t know that it’s necessarily worn him down any more than it being the time of year that it is. I’m sure on some level, obviously, he wants to get it done and get it over with, but I don’t think it’s been something that’s weighed on him too, too much. I think he wanted to get it done here, no question, but we’ll continue to work through whether a day off is the right thing or not.”
On Sunday, Orioles pitchers challenged Judge much more than they did Saturday, when he went 0-for-2 with two walks and a hit by pitch.
On a wet and windy day, Judge struck out in his first two at-bats against rookie righthander Kyle Bradish, who came in with a 5.11 ERA.
In the first inning, Bradish fell behind Judge 2-and-0 on high fastballs before throwing him three sliders for strikes. Judge took the first one, swung through the second and took the third on the outside corner for strike three.
Judge faced Bradish again in the second inning with the bases loaded and two outs and the Yankees trailing 1-0.
Judge fouled off the first two pitches before Bradish threw a high-and-tight fastball on 1-and-2 that Judge checked his swing on while trying to get out of the way. First-base umpire Dan Merzel ruled no swing.
Bradish, who had headed off the mound thinking he had gotten strike three, doubled over in disbelief and then made an emphatic swinging-the-bat motion at Merzel to indicate what he thought Judge had done.
The next pitch was a curve in the dirt. Judge again tried to check his swing. This time Merzel punched him out.
With the rain falling and the wind whipping, Judge faced Bradish again in the fifth and walked on a low 3-and-1 sinker. He had one pitch to hit — a 92-mph fastball right down the middle on 2-and-0 — but fouled it back.
Perhaps because he is so used to the low pitch being called a strike on him, Judge hesitated before he took his base on ball four.
With the Yankees trailing 3-1 in the seventh, Judge faced hard-throwing rookie righthander Bryan Baker. He struck out on a 98-mph fastball on 2-and-2.
In the battle for the batting title, Minnesota’s Luis Arraez, who did not play Sunday, leads the American League at .315. Judge is at .311.
Before the game, the Yankees honored Maris with a video tribute. They also honored his four adult children (Roger Jr., Kevin, Richard and Sandra), who have been attending games to watch Judge try to break their father’s record.Chi Chi Gonzalez, a veteran righthander whom the Yankees signed to a minor-league deal on Aug. 30, was called up to make the start. Gonzalez went 4 2/3 innings and allowed one run.
Aroldis Chapman, who is pitching himself off the postseason roster, was charged with two runs in the seventh after allowing an infield single and three walks, including one that forced home the go-ahead run.
Yankees righthander Ron Marinaccio left the game in the eighth with a sore shin, an injury that Boone said has bothered him in the past.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
