A failure to communicate proves costly in the outfield

The Yankees dropped the ball. What had been metaphorical for the majority of the American League Championship Series became literal at a particularly poor time.

Harrison Bader, who was picked up for his defense, with playoff moments in mind, and Aaron Judge, a superstar who has played solid defense all year, combined for a critical miscommunication that led to the Astros’ first two runs of a 5-0 win in Game 3 in The Bronx on Saturday. The defeat brought the Yankees one loss away from elimination.

With two outs in the second inning, Houston’s Christian Vazquez lifted a seemingly harmless flyball to right-center. Bader and Judge converged, each yelling that the ball was his. In a loud stadium, Judge finally heard Bader at the last moment and crossed in front of the center fielder to avoid a collision.

Bader then had to contend with a 6-foot-7 mountain of a man in front of him. The ball hit his glove and bounced out. “He’s like 9-feet tall,” Bader said. Both outfielders “got a little spooked,” said Bader, who was charged with zero errors during the regular season and now has made two in eight postseason games.

Instead of the inning being over, Gerrit Cole had to deal with Chas McCormick — and the No. 9 hitter jumped on the third pitch from the Yankees ace and launched a drive to right field. The ball bounced off the top of the wall and over for a home run that would not have been a homer in any other major league park.

“It has nothing to do with [Judge] or me, it was just the place of the ball that was out of our control,” said Bader, who also said the crowd noise was a factor in Judge not hearing him until the last moment.

“I definitely messed him up on that play. I gotta take responsibility for that,” Judge said. “When he calls it, I gotta drop and get out of the way, and [I] just couldn’t move quick enough.”

The 2-0 deficit for the Yankees, who finished with three hits, might as well have been 20-0.

Bader won a Gold Glove in 2021, and the Yankees acquired him at the deadline for his outstanding defense, moving Judge from center field back to his accustomed right. That vision largely has been achieved — and Bader has impressed with four home runs in eight postseason games — but Bader’s literal vision was compromised on the play.

In a series in which the Yankees’ bats have not been nearly good enough, their communication also has proven to be a problem.