Judge helps Yankees get season back on track
NEW YORK — It was a night where all of New York came together, two teams celebrating as one Saturday on the emotional 20th anniversary of 9/11.
But let’s be honest, this is still a Yankees’ town.
The Yankees, who had another team meeting after their seventh consecutive loss Friday, reminded New York fans not to give up on them, showing their resolve and resiliency in a wild 8-7 victory over the Mets in front of 43,144 witnesses at Citi Field. The Yankees are far from a juggernaut, and aren’t about to catch the Tampa Bay Rays atop the AL East, but the Yanks are tied with the Toronto Blue Jays for the second wild-card spot and are just one game behind the Boston Red Sox for the top wild-card berth. Five teams are still hanging around a flawed wild-card race, bunched within two games of one another in the loss column.
“We wanted to remind guys that, ‘hey, we’re still in the playoff hunt,’ ’’ said Aaron Judge, who spoke at the team meeting Friday night, and hit two homers 24 hours later. “The world isn’t crumbling around us. We’re the New York Yankees. …
“I know when it comes to playoff time, a lot of teams aren’t going to want to play the New York Yankees.’’
Of course, they’ve got to get to the postseason first.
This is a team that had lost seven consecutive games, dropping 11 of 13 overall, and blew a five-run lead in Saturday night’s game only to show their resiliency by coming back. Maybe it’s the start of a September stretch to remember, or perhaps only a tease. Time will tell.
“I believe in this team,’’ Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I believe in this group. It’s been ugly at times, but I don’t think (our) group will ever lose confidence (in) what we’re doing when we’re at our best.’’
Yet, they needed that team meeting in which Judge spoke to remind themselves they do have a world of talent, that they belong in the playoffs, and, of course, that they are the Yankees.
“I don’t like doing it,’’ said Judge, one of four players who spoke at the meeting. “I don’t want to do it. We’re family in that room. But it builds our bond a little stronger, and we came out with a chip on our shoulder.’’
Judge, who’s hitting .341 with 10 homers and 28 RBI in his last 33 games, certainly isn’t ready to have an early vacation. He hit a homer in the second inning for a 5-0 Yankees’ lead, and a two-run shot in the eighth inning to tie game, 7-7. The trouble was that between Judge’s homers the Yankees went 0-for-16 with eight strikeouts until Brett Gardner’s eighth-inning single, which Judge followed with his second homer. He even helped save the game in the ninth with a sprawling catcher on Javier Baez’s line drive to left field.
“He can impact the game in so many ways,’’ Yankees starter Corey Kluber said.
Judge also turned a poignant evening into a celebratory one, with the Yankees taking great pride in their role in the anniversary, letting their fans know they’re not about to bow out of this wild-card race meekly.
“It was a beautiful night, it was a perfect night,’’ Boone said. “I think everyone in the room was honored to be part of the evening. I think our players really felt the emotion of the day, and they could feel the emotion in the building. …
“It was great. Weather-wise, perfect. Packed to the gills. The different chanting and cheering. The ‘ USA’ chants. It felt like a unified crowd. It was nice to be part of other than a couple of idiots jumping over a wall and running onto the field.’’