Following Aaron Judge’s 41st home run of the season in the first inning on Saturday, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider had had enough and intentionally walked the New York Yankees slugger with two outs and nobody on an inning later. “I honestly didn’t feel like seeing him swing,” Schneider admitted after the game. “That was kind of it.” We talked about being extremely careful with him, and I believe, as I previously stated, it is what might lead to mistakes when you are trying to be very fine.”
Judge has homered in both games of the three-game series between the host Yankees and the Blue Jays. He hopes to see more huge swings while Toronto tries to find a way to get him out on Sunday afternoon, when the American League East rivals meet in the series’ rubber game to wrap off their season. The Yankees will start Gerrit Cole (3-2, 5.40 ERA), while the Blue Jays will send rookie Yariel Rodriguez (1-4, 4.31) to the mound in a right-handed showdown.
The Yankees won 8-3 on Saturday, tying the season series at six games apiece. Judge blasted his 16th first-inning home run of the season off Jose Berrios, tying Babe Ruth’s club record from 1927. “Things like that happen every now and then; it’s up to us to take advantage,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone explained.
Judge reached base multiple times for the 70th time, and he has six home runs in his last eight games and nine in his last seventeen. Judge is hitting.421 (24-for-57) in his last 17 games, for an overall average of.321 and 103 RBIs. “That’s a pretty good season for a lot of people, but for him, he’s halfway through,” New York starter Carlos Rodon said. Judge’s latest blast came when the Yankees won for the sixth time in seven games, after losing 23 of 33.
While Judge is hot enough to justify an intentional walk with the bases empty, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is also blazing. On Sunday, the Blue Jays first baseman went 3-for-4, including his 22nd home run. He is batting.525 (31-for-59) with nine home runs and 18 RBIs during a 16-game hitting streak that has pushed his average to.318. “It’s fun to watch him right now, and all of a sudden it’s 15 homers in the last month, something crazy,” Schneider noted. “It’s what he’s capable of.”
Guerrero’s most recent huge day came in a game where the Blue Jays trailed by five runs, committed two errors, and loaded the bases in the ninth before George Springer struck out. Springer started as designated hitter after fouling a ball off his left shin on Friday, but he may return to the outfield on Sunday. Cole, against whom Guerrero is hitting.344 (11-for-32), returns after missing Tuesday’s game in Philadelphia due to general weariness.
Cole is making his first start since July 24, when he allowed six runs on eight hits, three of which were home runs, over 5 2/3 innings in a 12-3 home defeat to the New York Mets. He has a 9-2 record with a 2.73 ERA in 17 career starts versus the Blue Jays, holding them to one run on three hits in five innings on June 30 in Toronto.
Rodriguez will make his 11th career start, and the Blue Jays hope it lasts longer than the first game of Monday’s doubleheader at Baltimore, when he allowed four runs on four walks and one hit in only two innings and 43 pitches. Before laboring against the Orioles, Rodriguez had a 1-1 record with a 2.01 ERA in his previous four starts. Rodriguez, who has allowed opponents to bat.214 this season, will be facing the Yankees for the first time.
