Higgy & Co. show Judge has some help when needed
ON A fun day in The Bronx before a sold-out Stadium, the Yankees entertained the holiday weekend crowd with an uneven but ultimately satisfying performance that perhaps portended even better things to come.
The Yankees overcame a couple funky throws on the ugliest play of the season by normally reliable defenders Harrison Bader and Kyle Higashioka that led to an early deficit, plus a couple more home run balls surrendered by ace Gerrit Cole;
They strung five hits against Padres ace Yu Darvish, a pitcher who, like Cole, is a five-time AllStar and unlike anyone else possesses a reputed 11 distinct pitches, in one of their better offensive outings considering the opposing pitcher’s pedigree;
The complementary cast provided plenty of help this time for MVP candidate Aaron Judge, who had his typical game, homering and singling against Darvish and also snagging a home run bid by Rougned Odor in the 10-7 Yankees victory.
“This was a good team win today for sure,” Cole said. “It’s such a luxury to have the offense that we have and the type of players that we have. Aaron is such a great player. The offense doing what they did is fun to watch.”
This day wasn’t all fun and games, however.
Higashioka was still beating himself up afterward for throwing a ball “30 feet” (his estimate) too high, and his Orange County, Calif., youth teammate Cole (the winner to go to 6-0) was doing the same for “allowing too many runs,” and what he termed “poor execution,” over six-plus innings.
Speaking of a lapse in execution, Bader overthrew the cutoff man on Jose Azocar’s second-inning single, and when Higashioka fielded that errant throw, he overthrew third baseman DJ LeMahieu, allowing Azocar to score on the rare Little League home run.
“I didn’t feel very good about myself in that moment,” Higashioka said. “I’m glad we put the hurt on them the next inning.”
The Yankees took their faux pas very seriously, and that’s a positive sign, too. Higashioka, a .173 hitter coming in, provided two doubles in the seven-run third inning, and Bader later homered to provide some space.
“Everyone was a little upset with themselves,” Judge said. “I think everyone kind of stepped up and said let’s answer back here and get back to what we do.”
Judge, meantime, had nothing to answer for, which is characteristic of his pristine play.
As is his wont, Judge got things started in spectacular way, hitting a ball so high on a first-inning home run it’s fortunate the flyover of F-18s was conducted a few minutes earlier. Every day, it seems, Judge does something special to help the Yankees. It’s only a matter of whether he gets enough help now.
The most sunning stats entering the day saw the Yankees 17th in OPS and 24th in on-base percentage. These are among the early hints of a possible repeat of the second half last year when Judge managed to avoid any back injury after carrying the team to 99 wins.
Chants of “M-V-P, M-V-P” rang out. That may be the case once again, but for Judge to score his second-straight MVP award, and more importantly for the Yankees to get where they want, he can’t do it almost alone.
The Yankees still don’t totally have their act together, or their roster, and the pregame interview routine sounds like it was lifted from emergency room paperwork. For the record, Jose Trevino, Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson — one-third of their regular lineup — all sound somewhat to very close. That’s what they hope, anyway.
They suffered yet another scare when Anthony Rizzo staggered to the ground following a collision at first base after Higashioka picked off Fernando Tatis Jr. to finish a double play and end the inning. Rizzo was removed with a neck injury for what was termed “precautionary reasons.”
They feel hopeful Rizzo won’t be out long. Cole said, “He’s the toughest guy ever. He’s gotten drilled like 200 some odd times.”
In this year of injuries, their long list of ailments doesn’t necessarily put the Yankees at a major disadvantage. The $270M Padres — the priciest team outside the five boroughs — aren’t close to full strength either. When superstar Juan Soto was scratched with back tightness immediately after he was announced as batting third, the Padres’ well-paid lineup suddenly looked depleted. Old Friend Matt Carpenter batted cleanup in the rejiggered batting order despite a .179 batting average.
Perhaps Padres manager Bob Melvin was recalling Carpenter’s spectacular regular season in The Bronx a year ago. The fans certainly did, and gave Carpenter a nice ovation.
They had a much different reaction to Tatis. They cheered heartily when Cole threw brushback pitches to him in two different atbats, and cheered more when Tatis struck out as the potential tying runner in the seventh inning. They cheered yet again when Tatis made the final out of the game, which was the perfect ending to a fantastic day at the Stadium.