DEFINING MOMENTS
In a season that was once thought of as a potential rebuilding year, the Yankees turned 162 games into a roller-coaster ride that arrived in the playoffs. The journey included some jaw-dropping rookie moments, broken records, trades and even unifying brawls. Here are 13 of the defining moments that shaped the Yankees as they head into the ALDS.
TORREYES’ EARLY SAVE April 9 — Camden Yards
On the brink of dropping to 1-5 in the first week of the season, the Yankees were down 3-0 to the Orioles with two on and two out sin the sixth inning. A surprise early-season savior, Ronald Torre yes came up and roped a triple to the gap to spark a comeback 7-3 win. It was the first of eight straight wins for the Yankees.
GARDNER SINKS CUBS May 5 — Wrigley Field
Trailing the defending World Series champs 2-0 in the ninth inning, the Yankees put two on with two outs before Brett Gardner smacked a three-run home run to right field off Hector Rondon to save the day. Aroldis Chapman slammed the door shut in the bottom of the ninth to send the Yankees on to a sweep of the Cubs — including a Sunday night win in 18 innings.
JUDGE TAKES OFF June 11 — Yankee Stadium
In the grand scheme of this game, Judge’s sixth-inning home run didn’t mean much as it gave the Yankees an 8-3 lead in a 14-3 win over the Orioles. But he demolished a 1-1 pitch from Logan Verrett and sent it 495 feet, the secondlongest home run in the Statcast era.
FRAZIER WALKS IT OFF July 8 — Yankee Stadium
Welcome to the big leagues, rookie. After hitting a home run in his first game with the Yankees (a loss to the Astros) Clint Frazier made his second count as he crushed a three-run, walk-off homer to down the Brewers 5-3.
JUDGE WINS THE HR DERBY July 10 — Marlins Park
This one didn’t count and it didn’t include the rest of the Yankees, but it may have served as Ju d ge ’s breakout moment on the national stage as he put on a show. The rookie hit 23 homers in the f irst round alone to outlast Justin Bour before one-upping both Cody Bellinger and Miguel Sano en route to the crown. Some thought the derby had hurt Judge, as he batted .176 with seven homers over his first 46 games after the break. But he rounded back into form, slugging 15 homers and batting .329 over the final 25 games.
A WILD COMEBACK April 28 — Yankee Stadium
The Yankees’ first walk-off of the year came in truly stunning fashion. Facing deficits of 5-0, 9-1 and 11-4 against the Orioles, the Bombers clawed their way back for a 14-11 win in 10 innings that Matt Holliday punctuated with a three-run home run to end it. Starlin Castro (inset) hit a two-run homer to tie it at 11 in the bottom of the ninth, Jacoby Ellsbury hit a grand slam and Aaron Judge went deep twice to aid the comeback.
HOLLIDAY HOMERS OFF KIMBREL July 15 — Fenway Park
A night after getting walked-off on (literally: Chapman walked in the winning run) by the Red Sox, the Yankees trailed 1-0 heading to the ninth inning. Holliday wiped out a 13-strikeout gem from Chris Sale with one swing, a home run off Craig Kimbrel to tie the game. It went on to last 16 innings, with Didi Gregorius’ RBI single scoring the go-ahead run in a 4-1 win.
YANKEES GO SHOPPING July 19-31
In a span of 12 days, the Yankees’ frontfr office proved it was going all in forfo a playoff run, making three significant trades to improve the roster. First the Yanks landed Todd Frazier, David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle from the White Sox for a package that includedin former first-round pick Blake Rutherford. Then they added to their rotation depth by acquiring Jaime Garcia from the Twins before agreeing to a blockbuster on deadline day, trading for Sonny Gray from the A’s for a trio of top prospects.
BRAWL IN MOTOR CITY Aug. 24 — Comerica Park
The Yankees lost to the Tigers 10-6, but may have been brought together even more by the game that included a brawl, three bench clearings and eight ejections. The feud began when Tommy Kahnle was ejected for throwing behind Miguel Cabrera, and then before Chapman could even throw a pitch, Austin Romine and Cabrera began to fight. Gary Sanchez, who was drilled earlier in the game, threw punches and was later suspended.
GREEN WHIFFS THE TRIBE Aug. 30 — Yankee Stadium
In the f irst game of a doubleheader, Chad Green had one of the highlights of hi s breakout season when he came on in relief of Garcia and struck o ut seven batters over 2 ²/₃ innings. It was a dominant effort for the pitcher who began the year as a Triple-A starter before coming up in May to be a powerful arm out of the bullpen.
CAUGHT STEALING Sept. 5
The rivalry hit the technological stage as the Yankees accused the Red Sox of using an Apple Watch to steal signs from them during an August series at Fe nway. It set off an MLB investigation, in which the Sox admitted to the scandal. The Yankees alleged that members of Boston’ s training staff relayed the information from video personnel to players during the game. The Sox were eventually hit with a fine.
CHAPMAN GETS HIS GROOVE BACK Sept. 1 — Yankee Stadium
This marked a turning point for the Yankees’ flamethrower. After getting shelled for eight runs over eight innings in August, Chapman tinkered with his grips and closed out the regular season with 11 straight scoreless appearances, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out 17, beginning by striking out the side against the Red Sox. Joe Girardi had temporarily moved Chapman out of the closer’s role, but he earned his way back with a resurgent September.
JUDGE HITS 50 Sept. 25 — Yankee Stadium
Judge came into the day needing two home run stop ass Mark McGwire for the ML B rookie home run re co rd . The right field er slugged one in the third inning to tie McGwire at 49 and then wasted no time making the record his alone, going deep in the seventh inning for No. 50. Judge took a curtain call as Yankee Stadium roared.