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    • Yankees and Aaron Judge run out of time in World Series and Dodgers game
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    Yankees and Aaron Judge run out of time in World Series and Dodgers game

    Harry Posted on

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    LOS ANGELES – Ace Juan Soto He hit a single to right field in the ninth inning, the visitor’s dugout Dodger Stadium broke out in a spasm of exuberant hand movements and joy.

    Of course, New York Yankees held to just two hits They came off Soto by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night, but they were down three runs in Game 2 of this World Series when suddenly their most dangerous man, Giancarlo Stanton, appeared in the on-deck circle during the tying run.

    And then Aaron Judge stepped into the batter’s box.

    That would be a source of joy for the Yankees just about any day this season. But after waiting nearly a decade to reach the World Series, not least because of his own setbacks, Judge is in danger of leaving much more quickly.

    With Dodgers closer Blake Treinen, Judge swung at the first pitch and a poor sweeper flew out of the strike zone. I looked at the second shot; slider landing in the outside corner. And a pitch later, he once again struck out a sweeper well outside and below the strike zone.

    It was Judge’s sixth hit in nine innings this World Series, his 19th.This 40 innings into this postseason — and it looked even worse when the Yankees tied and took the lead in the lead but couldn’t push them home in a 4-2 loss.

    They packed the visiting clubhouse at Dodger Stadium for their long flight home, hoping to get a balm from Yankee Stadium, where Game 3 will begin Monday night. A sign of life though – a good look, a hard-hit ball, damn, how about a home run? – They suspected their captain and American League MVP would go much further.

    And Judge, a 6-7 powerhouse who hit 58 home runs and posted a 1.159 OPS this year, knows that better than anyone.

    “I definitely have to step up. I have to do my job,” Judge said late Saturday night as the Yankees prepared to leave Los Angeles. “The guys around me are doing their jobs, getting on base.

    “And I’m not supporting them, I’m failing them.”

    The two games are not an exemplary production, but October cannot wait for such technical details. The umpire is now 1 for 9 in this World Series, but far more concerning is the six strikeouts.

    They suggest that a slugger is unbalanced, unbalanced mechanically and at least somewhat mentally. Yankees to a man, Judge says no pressure.

    Still, the Judge is dusting off the well-worn adage that he should take what he’s given, and if it’s a few walks, so be it. Whether this defines oppression depends on your perspective.

    “He has time to help us win some games,” Stanton says.

    But how – especially when the Judge is after almost everything?

    The 6-6 Stanton puts his hands together in an almost heart shape to demonstrate.

    “You should make your territory this big,” he says. When this happens, you feel like your plate is so big and you need to squeeze it.

    “He’ll help us win some games here.”

    In fact, Hakim somehow remains optimistic despite realizing that his failures are hurting the team. He says they are getting closer to a solution.

    That sounds great in April, when Judge struggled through a grueling month before essentially going on a five-month tear to lead the Yankees to the AL East championship.

    How can one save his mechanics and his mind when his team is two defeats away from elimination?

    “It’s all about a strikeout,” said Soto, who has three hits and a target in two games. “I know it’s hard, but when you’re a hitter like him — and he’s one of the best — it’s only going to take one hit at bat. One hit to lock in and be on it.

    “Every time he hits the ball or makes that shot, it’s going to get him going. Some friends, it takes a while. But when you have a good guy like that, it only takes one hit to get him going.”

    And when the Judge is neutralized, it serves to diminish the Yankees as a whole.

    The club, which led the major leagues in home runs and won the AL in home runs, was held to four hits in Game 2 — and only Soto’s third-inning home run, which went up eight innings.

    After Soto hit a groundout to tie the game at 1-1, Judge became the next batter and delivered an innocuous fly ball to right field, where Mookie Betts grounded out – beginning a streak of 11 consecutive batters retired by Los Angeles Dodgers starters. Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

    Yamamoto went into the seventh round, marking his second perfect start of the series. Jack Flaherty He gave up only Stanton’s two-run homer in Game 1. The Dodgers throw them carefully and execute them perfectly, which impresses the Yankees’ best hitter.

    “Sometimes you want things to happen instead of letting the game come to you,” Judge says. “You see Gleyber on base, Juan getting on base and you want something to happen. But if you can’t land a pitch in the area, you need to walk the walk and prepare for the Big G.

    “Plain and simple, I gotta start swinging at bats.”

    He knew this in April, when he batted .207 with a .754 OPS and made up all of his home runs by the end of the season.

    “They’re all the same,” says the judge. “Your games are over when he’s here.”

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    Harry
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