Judge would like to forget 4-K game vs. Tribe
CLEVELAND — Aaron Judge rarely lets his emotions get the best of him on the field, but the mild-mannered rookie definitely appeared miffed after being called out on strikes with a runner on third base in the sixth inning by homeplate umpire Vic Carapazza on Thursday night at Progressive Field. That was one of four strikeouts amid a frustrating night all around for Judge and the Yankees during a 4-0 loss to Cleveland in Game 1 of the AL division series. “That pitch I thought was off the inside corner,” Judge said of his sixth-inning punch-out. “In a big situation like that, emotion kind of comes out, but I haven't had a chance to look (on video) at it yet.”
Judge led the American League in several important categories during his breakout regular season, but a continuation of perhaps the lone negative statistic among them — his 208 strikeouts, the most in the majors — was among several reasons why the Yanks are already one game down in the best-offive series.
“That’s the beauty of baseball. We get to go out there and do it again tomorrow,” said Judge, who only donned the golden sombrero (four strikeouts) once during the regular season, on May 21 against Tampa Bay. “If we go out there and win tomorrow, we forget about today. So it’s just learn from today, regroup and get ready for tomorrow.”
Friday, of course, gets no easier for the Yanks with Cleveland ace and Cy Young frontunner Corey Kluber, whom Judge has never faced in his career,
awaiting in Game 2.
“You’d rather get at-bats against him,” Judge said. “The more you see a guy in the box, the more familiar you get with what his fastball’s doing, or his slider, stuff like that. I’ve been watching video and I’ll just prepare and get ready.”
Judge had homered in his postseason debut on Tuesday in the wild-card victory over Minnesota, but he struck out three times against Indians starter Trevor Bauer and once against Cody Allen with two runners on for the final out of the eighth.
“I wanted to go out there and do my job,” Judge said. “Drive those guys in. I came up short on that one, but got an at-bat against him and now it’s time to just get ready for (Game 2). Just missed a couple today and that's a part of it. It's baseball.”