It was Willie Calhoun who was standing in right field just below the Judge’s Chambers at the start of Sunday night’s rubber game against the Red Sox.
Media relations associate Tristan Vitale began handing out the black robes shortly before first pitch.
The jurors who were sitting in the Judge’s Chambers made the most of their night in the privileged seats on the bench, but they sure missed No. 99.
And we were reminded again that so will the Yankees, 3-2 losers in 10 innings, until Aaron Judge is back.
Judge’s absence puts immeasurable strain on the pitching staff to hold the fort for as long as it possibly can until someone, anyone with a bat in his hands, can pick up the slack.
No one did.
They were chanting “Volpe, Volpe” with DJ LeMahieu on third with the tying run and two outs after Jose Trevino had whiffed in the 10th, on a night when Bucky Dent was sitting in the suites to witness his favorite rivalry.
But Anthony Volpe, struggling enough for Aaron Boone to rest him at shortstop, fanned against Chris Martin, and Kiké Hernandez’s RBI single off Ron Marinaccio proved to be the difference.
Bring on the Mets!
And the way the Mets been playing, bring on the Mets as soon as possible, because Tuesday night’s Subway Series opener at Citi Field won’t be here soon enough.
There is absolutely no margin for error without Judge, and if to err is human, the Yanks were too human on this night.
Gleyber Torres made a lazy, nonchalant backhand stab at a one-hop lob from left fielder Billy McKinney that allowed Hernandez to advance to second and eventually score the tying run off Michael King in the eighth.
Torres sang the blues.
“I tried to catch really fast and try to maybe throw to first base. … The error is on me … nothing difficult. … just perfect throw. … Everything is on me,” he said.
McKinney classily took the blame, but he was being too kind.
“We gotta be more careful with the ball,” Boone said.
We’ll never know if the dominant Yankees bullpen — this time the baton was passed from Scranton-to-Bronx yo-yo Nick Ramirez to King to Clay Holmes to Marinaccio — could have given Boone enough relief.
Other than the rehabbing Carlos Rodon plunking Calhoun in the left elbow during live batting practice and Calhoun living to tell about it, and Boone coming away impressed with Rodon’s 93-96 mph velocity, and another quality outing from Clarke Schmidt, and a leaping catch at the wall by McKinney, there was little else to comfort Boone.
For instance, Anthony Rizzo was picked off second by starter Brayan Bello with two outs in the sixth.
“Couple of things today we didn’t do great,” Boone said.
Therein lies the problem. The Yankees are 8-10 without Judge. They have scored 21 runs in the seven games since Judge’s toe woes began. Just a couple of things they fail to do great in a game can cost them dearly.
Oh, and Rizzo is mired in a 1-for-30 slump since June 2, or the worst possible time. He slammed his bat in disgust after one at-bat when he flied to right.
“He’s just going through a tough stretch right now,” Boone said.
The Yankees managed three hits and one of them, a Trevino ground ball that caromed off second base, gifted them their lone runs in the second.
Thankfully, the Yankees made Judge their $360M man. They are just another team without him. Kind of like the Mets without Pete Alonso. Just another team that struggles to find a way to win without him.
Flubway Series until further notice.
Bring on the Mets … Please!
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