Whiff of controversy as a brutal run ends

DETROIT — Even amidst a blowout, Joe Girardi made a move sure to get people talking. I didn’t love the move, emotionally. But I get it, logically. In beating up on the hapless Tigers to the tune of a 13-4 victory Tuesday night at Comerica Park, the Yankees also celebrated the end of Aaron Judge’s major league record streak of 37 consecutive games with at least one strikeout. Judge, lowered from third to fourth in the Yankees’ lineup, walked in his first three trips to the plate and then delivered an RBI single in the fifth. When his turn arrived in the top of the seventh, with the Yankees up by an 11-1 count, Joe Girardi pinch hit for him with Jacoby Ellsbury, thereby ensuring the death of the streak.

(For history’s sake, Girardi did this before Tigers manager Brad Ausmus informally conceded the game by removing his veterans, which occurred in the bottom of the seventh.)

“I figured I’m gonna give some rest,” Girardi said after the game. “I might DH him tomorrow. Maybe DH one of the other outfielders the next day and try to keep him fresh.”

When pressed whether the end of Judge’s strikeout streak factored at all into his decision, Girardi said, “He had four at-bats. I wouldn’t have known about it if you had not told me. So I do not look at those things. It’s not like he sat on his average or something, or didn’t play.”

Said Judge, concerning the end of his unwanted streak: “I never even thought about it. So it really means nothing, to be honest.”

It’s inconceivable that Girardi, whose preparation ranks as one of his fortes, had no awareness of Judge’s streak. The manager admitted that, at the least, ending the run ranked as a positive, “so he doesn’t have to talk about it. I think that’s a good thing. It was just getting him off his feet.”

Perhaps old-time (or well-schooled) baseball fans will draw the parallel between Ted Williams putting his .400 batting average on the line by playing all the way through the 1941 schedule — something to which Girardi vaguely alluded — and Girardi not allowing Judge to end his whiff run in a full game.

What would the latter accomplish, though? Will Judge feel emotionally incomplete because his manager lifted him before he went nine innings without a strikeout? I don’t see it. “I’m just a player. I’ve got to go out there and play,” Judge said. “I’m not the one making the decisions. So if they want to take me out at that time, I guess they’ve got to take me out.”

What I do see is that Judge will no longer have to answer questions about his streak. Though, to be fair mathematically, the Yankees have 38 games left, meaning that time still exists for Judge to top his own mark.

The Yankees’ new No. 3 hitter, Gary Sanchez, smoked a first-inning, two-run homer to left field that MLB.com’s Statcast measured at 493 feet, the second-longest blast in all of baseball this season after Judge’s 495foot shot on June 11, and he added a two-run homer to right field in the ninth. Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, fresh off his disabled-list stay for right shoulder inflammation, threw a solid seven inning, allowing three runs and six hits while walking none and striking out four.

Yes, good vibes dominated this Yankees work shift, and Judge’s strikeout-free night added to that. Judge is beloved in the Yankees’ clubhouse because of his work ethic and humility. No one enjoyed watching his streak. He gained respect by answering those media questions about the streak with a grin.

“I don’t know about him, but I’d be going crazy every day,” Todd Frazier said of Judge. “I’m glad for him.”

Don’t bet on this serving as a springboard back to First-Half Judge, though there can’t be any harm from it, either. You don’t have to run through fire to solve all of your problems. Sometimes, there’s value to going around the fire and living to run another day.