BRONX IS HICKSVILLE!
Aaron HR, throw help Yanks rally to beat Sox
Aaron Judge isn’t the only Yank Aaron the Bombers have been awaiting renewed production from in recent weeks. Aaron Hicks’ return to the lineup couldn’t have been more timely, as he ignited the Yankees’ comeback from a three-run hole with a home run in a fiverun eighth inning, and then made a likely game-saving throw in the ninth in an outof-nowhere 5-4 turnaround victory Friday night over the Red Sox at the Stadium.
If you think the Yanks missed the invaluable outfielder and his two-way versatility while Hicks languished on the disabled list for more than six weeks, imagine how he felt.
“It definitely sucked not being able to play with my team,” Hicks said after the game, which moved the Yanks within 3½ games of first-place Boston in the AL East, rather than what could have been a season-high 5½-game deficit. “It didn’t feel good at all. But now that I’m back with the team, it feels good to be able to be around the guys and to be able to see their smiling faces.”
The Bronx-wide grins that ultimately emerged from what seemed destined to be a miserable night for the Yankees had plenty to do with Hicks, who had finally returned to the active roster on Thursday in Toronto after a potential All-Star breakout was shut down for nearly two months with a strained right oblique.
The sizzling Red Sox, winners of their previous eight, appeared poised to take another step towards burying the overhauled Yanks, cruising with a 3-0 lead into the eighth.
But they most certainly did not as Hicks lofted a two-run homer down the right-field line — a Yankee Stadium short-porch homer if there ever was one — against ex-Met reliever Addision Reed for a onerun game before RBI singles against Joe Kelly by Didi Gregorius and Todd Frazier pushed the Yanks in front.
“We had two hits (to that point), and we really weren’t putting anything together. But that’s why you play nine innings. (Hicks) kickstarted us,” Frazier said.
“It was very important, we need to get as many wins as we can against these guys, and it just showed that we’re willing to fight back,” said Hicks, who could be seen excitedly yelling at the ball while running down the first-base line. “Of course, I’m talking to the ball. I was like, ‘Go!’”
Even the slumping duo of Gary Sanchez and Judge – who struck out for a 28th consecutive game – significantly contributed to the winning rally, with a single and a walk, respectively, following Hicks’ homer, to keep the inning alive.
But Hicks, who is slashing .286/.390/.519 with 11 homers and 39 RBI in 210 at-bats, wasn’t done. He also made a tremendous one-hop throw from deep left to cut down exYank and Boston deadline pickup Eduardo Nunez at third for a sacfly double play after Aroldis Chapman had walked the bases loaded in the ninth, nearly duplicating his Fenway meltdown from July 14, before completing the wild finish.
“Really big. He’s played really well for us all year, and it’s been a pretty big loss for us,” Joe Girardi said of Hicks. “He’s got an incredible arm and we’ve seen him throw people out. But just the two-run homer kind of got us going and made it a different game.” Still, Frazier’s tag of Nunez wasn’t confirmed until a video-replay review. “I didn’t know where his hand was, but I knew I tagged him,” Frazier said.
“Big-time throw. If he’s safe right there, I think the next play is a sac fly and the game is tied,” added Brett Gardner, who didn’t start the game but reached base twice in the eighth. “Who knows how it would’ve played out?” Friday marked the first of 10 games against the Sox over 24 days, and the rest of the season series still will go a long way in determining whether GM Brian Cashman was right about his team and right to swing the trades he made last month — or the ones he continues to pursue to add an additional bat to the mix, such as falling short with the Mets on Jay Bruce this week.
“I think that kind of win can really propel you and get you going again,” Girardi said following Friday’s comeback. “Winning the first one is better than losing the first one.”