Aaron Boone welcomes off day, but Aaron Judge wants to keep playing
Aaron Judge of the Yankees rounds the bases on his solo home run against the Rays in the eighth inning at Tropicana Field on Sunday in St. Petersburg, Fla. Credit: Getty Images/Mike Carlson
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Sunday’s 4-2 loss to the Rays ended the Yankees’ stretch of 23 games in 22 days.
They have a rare Memorial Day off before Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout and the Angels visit Yankee Stadium for a three-game series beginning on Tuesday, with Noah Syndergaard set to start on Tuesday and Ohtani scheduled to pitch and potentially also serve as the designated hitter on Thursday.
The Yankees went 15-8 in the 23-game stretch and have an AL-best 33-15 record and a 4 1/2-game lead over second-place Tampa Bay in the AL East.
“Lost a tough one today, but certainly feel good about where we’re at and what we’re doing,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We certainly welcome this off day. Chance to regroup and reset a little bit and hopefully kick off a really good homestand.''
Aaron Judge, who hit his MLB-best 18th home run, disagreed with Boone, saying the Yankees are ready for more, especially after losing two in a row to Tampa Bay.
“Doesn’t matter how many games you have in a row,” he said. “Everybody in here’s ready to go every single day. I know it’s been 23 games in a row, but this team’s hungry. We’ve got a lot to prove. I know we’ve got an off day, but I think everybody in here wants to keep playing.”
Gleyber ice-hot
Gleyber Torres has been sporting a large ice pack on his right wrist after games recently but says he’s OK. It didn’t stop him from going 3-for-4 with a home run on Sunday.
“He’s been getting some treatment for his wrist,” Boone said. “But it hasn’t been something that’s really affected him much at all.”
Brantly stays
Catcher Rob Brantly, whom the Yankees outrighted to the minors on Thursday, re-signed with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after initially opting to become a free agent.
Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.
