Aaron Judge He may have hit an American League-record 62 home runs in the regular season, but it wasn’t worth it to Yankee Stadium fans on Friday.
The Yankees lost Cleveland Guardians 4-2 in Game 2 of the ALDS, the evening series heads to Cleveland. A week ago baseball’s beloved umpire posted a golden sombrero with four strikeouts on an 0-for-5 night.
The performance came after Judge went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts and a walk in Game 1. It was his fourth career four-strikeout game in the postseason, the most by any player in MLB history. ESPN.
As he returns to the dugout after his last strikeout against a Guardians reliever Trevor Stephen, Judge heard a few boos, a sound reserved only for pitchers who walked him last month. When asked about treatment after the game, he admitted that he needed to play better.
Judge’s response:
“It’s going to happen. It’s happened so many times here in my career. There’s nothing I can do. I just have to play better. That’s what it comes down to. Didn’t get the job done tonight, especially as a leadoff hitter. I’ve got to step up. Make something happen on the bases, on the basepaths, and I didn’t do that tonight.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s rant was even more direct:
Aaron Judge’s last home game at Yankee Stadium?
With the best-of-5 series tied 1-1 and the Guardians two wins away from closing out the ALDS, Judge raised the prospect of playing his last game as a member of the Yankees before heading to Yankee Stadium. .
Many baseball fans know that the MVP frontrunner is a free agent after this season. He’s a lock to land a mega-contract, but whether or not that deal comes from the Yankees remains to be seen. It’s hard for the club to imagine Judge playing anywhere else, but suddenly there’s a very real possibility that Judge’s home career at Yankee Stadium could end on a very ugly note.
