Aaron Judge did not hit his 61st home run of the season last night. But just about everything else went right for the Yankees in the conclusion of their 2-game home series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Once again, Judge was put in the leadoff spot in the order. He laced a double into the left-field corner. Anthony Rizzo struck out, but Gleyber Torres drew a walk. Josh Donaldson struck out, but Giancarlo Stanton drew a walk to load the bases. And Oswaldo Cabrera hit a home run, a grand slam.
That handed a 4-0 lead to Luis Severino, activated from the Injured List. He walked the leadoff man in the 1st, but didn't allow a hit until the 4th inning. He did some serious dealing, going 5 innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits, 1 walk, and 6 strikeouts.
Judge struck out in the 2nd. The Yankees picked up 2 more runs in the bottom of the 5th, thanks in part to a ground-rule double by Judge, who, at first, looked like he had Number 61. The Pirates scored 1 off Lucas Luetge in the 6th. Judge grounded out in the 7th.
The Yankees batted around in the 8th, giving Judge 1 more chance. The inning began with Torres hitting a home run. Donaldson and Stanton both drew walks. Cabrera doubled home Donaldson. Harrison Bader doubled home Stanton and Cabrera. Isiah Kiner-Falefa struck out, but Jose Trevino doubled home Bader.
That brought Judge to the plate. A crowd of 46,175 came to their feet, many of them whipping out their phones to record the moment. But Pirate pitcher Eric Stout appeared to be giving him "the old unintentional intentional walk": None of his pitches were anywhere near the strike zone. Judge thus reached base for the 3rd time on the day, and the crowd booed like crazy.
Judge was removed for pinch-runner Tim LoCastro. Many in the crowd then left, because, with the game already in hand, it was unlikely that Judge would come to the plate again, so they had no reason to stay.
They should have stayed: After Rizzo flew out, Torres hit another home run, driving in Trevino and LoCastro. This was only the 5th time that a Yankee had hit 2 home runs in 1 inning. The 1st 4: Joe DiMaggio in his rookie season of 1936, Joe Pepitone in 1962, Cliff Johnson in 1977, and Alex Rodriguez in 2009. A total of 59 players have done it, including Bret Boone, brother of Yankee manager Aaron Boone; and Fernando Tatís Sr., the only player to hit 2 grand slams in 1 inning, in a 1999 game for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Three players have switch-hit home runs in the same inning. As you can see by the list of Yankees above, Mickey Mantle is not one of them. They are Carlos Baerga, with the Cleveland Indians in 1993; Mark Bellhorn with the Chicago Cubs in 2002 (before he went to the Boston Red Sox and, presumably, started using steroids); and Kendrys Morales, with the Los Angeles Angels in 2012.
The Bucs did not seriously threaten in the 9th. Yankees 14, Pirates 2. WP: Severino (6-3). No save. LP: Roansy Contreras (5-5). With 2 doubles, but no homers, Judge helped his Triple Crown chances, but not his quest for any home run records.
The Toronto Blue Jays lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 in 10 innings at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. So the Yankees' Magic Number to clinch the American League Eastern Division is 8 games. Their Magic Number to clinch at least a Playoff spot is 1.
Tonight, The Scum come into The Bronx: The Boston Red Sox. It would be appropriate for Judge to hit Number 61 against them, because that's the team Roger Maris hit Number 61 against.
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