Swing ... and a miss
Judge can’t catch up to Acuna’s high heat
Aaron Judge’s 6-7 frame has helped him haul in many balls destined for the rightfield seats at Yankee Stadium, but this time he fell short.
With one on and one out in the 11th inning, Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. drove a ball to the right-center field wall, and as Judge backed up to the scoreboard he leaped but only got a piece of the ball before it landed in the first row for a go-ahead two-run home run in the Braves' 5-3 win Monday over the Yankees.
“Felt it in my glove, didn’t go in, they got two runs,” Judge said. “That’s all that really happened. It’s a tough play, wanted to make that play for (David Robertson), but couldn’t come through.”
Judge admitted he was surprised he did not come down with it, but explained that he did not time his jump perfectly.
“Yeah, just timed it up wrong. It’s all about timing,” he said. “If I timed it up right I make the play. That one was a little late, got caught up on the wall and it’s something I got to work on.”
Robertson, who gave up the home run and took the loss, said he initially thought the ball was not even hit that far.
“When he hit it, I thought it was an out, to be honest with you,” he said. “Playing at Yankee Stadium you see it happen all the time, that short porch in right field. I wish Judge would’ve caught it. It would have been awesome but it didn’t happen tonight.”
Robertson, despite pitching for the eighth season in the Yankees’ home ballpark, still cannot help but feel frustrated when the dimensions get the best of him.
“There’s no other word for it. It just sucks when that happens,” he said. “I didn’t make a great pitch, I didn’t make a bad pitch. He put a good swing on it, he’s got a lot of pop. Haven’t faced him before. Strong kid. He put it out there and it just happens.”
Robertson added that any time a ball gets hit toward the wall he hopes it gets robbed, regardless of who is out there, but when he turned back he was waiting for Judge to stop and camp under it, but it never happened.
“He kept drifting and I thought, ‘Oh God, he’s going to jump for it,’” he said. “Bad luck. Got too much wood on it. Good hitter.”