Trouba nominated again for humanitarian award
Judge`s 2-run single helps Yankees top Blue Jays to avoid sweep, snap skid
Jacob Trouba added a second nomination for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy to his Rangers captain legacy on Wednesday.
The Rangers once again selected Trouba to be considered for the NHL’s humanitarian award, which is named in honor of Hall of Famer Francis M. “King” Clancy and presented to the player who “best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution to his community.”
For the first time, former winners of the award — as well as the NHL Foundation Player Award — will vote on this year’s winner along with a select committee that includes NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.
In a press release on Wednesday, the NHL said “the selection committee will consider the criteria of a nominee’s inspiration, involvement, and impact to positively benefit his community.” The winner will not only receive a $25,000 donation for a charity or charities of his choice, but he will be eligible to propose for his team to receive a grant of up to $20,000 to help organize a “special activation related to his humanitarian cause.”
Trouba has been a worthy candidate for the honor for a couple seasons now.
After attending Charity Day, hosted by BGC Group and The Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund in honor of 9/11 victims, last season, Trouba and his wife, Dr. Kelly Tyson-Trouba, founded The Trouba Creative Expressions Arts Program. Over 10 weeks, a qualified art therapist provides professional services to adult clients with epilepsy and seizures through the Epilepsy Foundation of Metropolitan New York.
He’s done extensive work with the Garden of Dreams Foundation. In addition to helping serve 250 hot meals for 35 families at last year’s holiday dinner, Trouba presented Isaiah MárquezGreene, a survivor of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in Connecticut, with the GDF Inspire Scholarship to help fund law school.
Jacob Trouba Art was created in partnership with GDF and the Epilepsy Foundation. He has auctioned off several of his uniquely made pieces for charity, in addition to receiving a $28,000 donation from Tri-State Cadillac dealers in December.
The line of Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere all set career highs this season. Panarin posted 49 goals and 71 assists for 120 points in 82 games, while Trocheck finished second on the Rangers with 77 points by way of 25 goals and 52 assists.
Lafreniere had far and away his best season of his career with 28 goals and 29 assists in 82 games.
The first-round playoff stage in the Eastern Conference is set.
With the Rangers preparing to face the Capitals, the Islanders will take on the Hurricanes. The Battle of Florida will add another chapter when the Panthers square off with the Lightning for the third time in the last four postseasons. The Bruins and Maple Leafs will also meet in the playoffs for the 17th time.
After two days off, the Rangers are scheduled to practice on Thursday.
TORONTO — Before walking to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the ninth inning of a tie game Wednesday, Aaron Judge was having a fairly miserable series.
The Yankees captain was 0-for-12 with seven strikeouts, punctuating a slow start to the season.
But he delivered just in time to avoid a complete clunker of a series for himself and the Yankees.
Judge ripped a two-run single down the third-base line to lift the Yankees to a 6-4 win over the Blue Jays, snapping a three-game losing streak and narrowly avoiding a threegame sweep at Rogers Centre.
“You just leave it all out there,” Judge said. “It doesn’t matter what happened before. If you had a good game, if you had a bad game, you can change the course of everything with just one swing.”
On the way to their sixth comeback win of the year, the Yankees (13-6) erased a 4-1 deficit and put together a four-run ninth to win it and finish off a 3-3 road trip.
Judge’s clutch hit came on a full count against lefty Tim Mayza, the same reliever who served up the outfielder’s 61st home run in 2022. The Blue Jays (10-9) appeared to have a right-hander ready in the bullpen — Judge said he was preparing for either arm — but they stuck with Mayza and paid the price. “Perfect situation for [Judge],” said Giancarlo Stanton, who sparked the ninth-inning rally with a leadoff home run. “That’s the type of at-bat that gets him going and he doesn’t shy away from. We want him there in every big moment, so he didn’t disappoint.”
In the bottom of the ninth, Anthony Volpe finished the game with a terrific play up the middle, sliding to snag a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. grounder and firing to first for the final out. The Yankees had entered the ninth inning trailing 4-2 before Stanton led off with a 437-foot shot off Erik Swanson that Judge said lifted the dugout. Gleyber Torres, who had been 0-for-3 with three strikeouts on the day, followed with a single up the middle before Alex Verdugo doubled to the right-field corner to put the tying run on third.
One out later, Mayza entered from the bullpen and Jose Trevino pinch hit for Austin Wells. Trevino, who was pinch hitting for only the 15th time in his career, delivered a line-drive single off the glove of drawn-in second baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa to tie the game at four. Then with two outs, Juan Soto capped off another strong game — going 3-for-3 with a double, home run, two walks and an outfield assist — by drawing a full-count walk to load the bases for Judge.
The captain was in a 5-for-36 skid and has yet to fully take off this season. But he came through when the Yankees needed him Wednesday.
“At the end of the day, we all know what kind of player he is,” Soto said. “Tough series for him, you just gotta forget about it and keep going. At the end of the day, he got the hit in the right moment and the right spot. That’s what we’ve been looking for is to see those hits that he gets to help the team win the game.”
Before the ninth inning, Soto and Oswaldo Cabrera had been responsible for five of the Yankees’ six hits. Soto doubled home Cabrera (who had also doubled) in the fifth inning off Kevin Gausman and then went deep for a solo shot against lefty reliever Genesis Cabrera in the eighth to pull the Yankees within 4-2.
In the three-game set, Gausman, Yusei Kikuchi and Chris Bassitt combined to throw 17 ¹/ ₃ innings in which they allowed just three runs on 12 hits and six walks while striking out 20.
The Yankees had hung around in all three games before finally pouncing against the Blue Jays bullpen on Wednesday.
“It was pretty incredible,” said Marcus Stroman, who gave the Yankees a chance by giving up two runs across 5 ¹/₃ innings. “I feel like this lineup is so potent, they can explode at any time. … We kind of feel like that’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of when. To get it late in that game, it feels pretty good to salvage [the series] and not get swept here in Toronto.”