BOMBERS’ BRUTAL DAY
JUDGE HURTING, COLE LOSES AS YANKS SWEPT
The Yankees began a stretch of 35 games in 33 days with a doubleheader in Atlanta on Wednesday.
It couldn’t have gone much worse.
They lost both games to extend their losing streak to five games and also saw Aaron Judge leave after aggravating a calf injury in his first game off the injured list.
After Gerrit Cole gave up three homers in a 5-1 loss in the seven-inning opener, Chad Green allowed a two-run homer to Freddie Freeman in the sixth inning of a 2-1 defeat, also in seven innings.
While the defeats hurt, seeing Judge go down again may be even more painful to the Yankees, who have battled injuries throughout the last two seasons.
Aaron Boone said Judge’s calf “tightened up again running to second base” in the fourth inning and the manager didn’t rule out another trip to the IL.
The Yankees have an off day Thursday before another doubleheader Friday against the Mets.
“It doesn’t seem to be overly serious, but it was enough that we needed to get him out of there,” Boone said.
Judge had last played on Aug. 11 and said throughout his IL stint that it was unnecessary. He moved well in the third to cut off Austin Riley’s hit to the gap in right-center to keep it to a single and then singled to center in the fourth before striking out in the sixth and then exiting.
“It’s frustrating, no question,’’ Boone said. “Obviously, he’s frustrated. We’ll see where he’s at [Thursday].”
The Yankees hadn’t played since falling to the Rays in The Bronx last Thursday, as the postponement of the Subway Series due to two COVID-19 cases with the Mets cost them three games and Tuesday’s scheduled game at Truist Park in Atlanta was rained out.
Their return was ugly from beginning to end, as Atlanta right-hander Ian Anderson started by taking a no-hitter into the sixth in his MLB debut in the opener.
In the second game, Tanaka cruised through five innings and was pulled after just 66 pitches with a one-run lead provided by a sacrifice fly from Tyler Wade in the top of the fifth.
Boone and Tanaka said after the game the right-hander had “emptied the tank” in the bottom of the fifth, despite the low pitch count, which is why Green was summoned.
Green retired the first two batters, but then allowed an infield single to Dansby Swanson and Freeman followed with a two-run shot.
When the Yankees failed to score in the seventh, their nightmare trip to Atlanta was over.
“It’s definitely not what we were planning, especially with Gerrit and Masa coming in,’’ Green said. “We thought we had a pretty good chance to win two games. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen and I spoiled Masa’s start. I’ve just got to do a better job.”
He’s not alone.
An offense that got Judge back — briefly — was still without DJ LeMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton and produced just two runs on seven hits in 14 innings.
The 22-year-old Anderson retired the first eight batters he faced and didn’t allow a hit until Luke Voit’s homer to the opposite field with one out in the sixth. It was the fifth straight game Voit had homered and cut the Yankees’ deficit to 4-1.
By then, Cole had already given up three home runs.
It was Cole’s first regular-season loss since May 22 of last year, when he was with the Astros. In that span, Cole was 20-0 with a 1.97 ERA, covering
28 starts. But on Wednesday, he and the Yankees were no match for the Braves.