The Yankees aren't making it easy, especially with their alleged ace having a hungry gopher. That means he gives up home runs, a.k.a. "gopher balls." Fortunately, yesterday, Brian Cashman's strategy of "Beat them by bombing them out of the yard" worked.
Begging the question, "What would happen if 2022 Gerrit Cole pitched to 2022 Aaron Judge?" Cole pitched to the 2022 Milwaukee Brewers in the finale of the series at American Family Field, and gave up 4 runs in 5 innings, all on a pair of home runs.
But the Yankees hit their own. Oswaldo Cabrera hit one in the 2nd inning. In the 3rd, Aaron Judge and the much-missed (due to injury) Anthony Rizzo went back-to-back. Judge's homer was his 58th of the season, ending what was, for him, a long drought.
Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Although, with Judge leading off the bottom of the 5th, maybe giving him "the old unintentional intentional walk" was the right idea. There's an old saying in baseball, but it's so rarely used these days that I can't issue a
But Rizzo followed this with a single. Gleyber Torres flew out, but it moved the runners over. That ended up not mattering, because Josh Donaldson drew a walk to lead the bases. Giancarlo Stanton hit a grounder to Brewer 2nd baseman Kolten Wong, who botched it, bringing Judge home and tying the score. Cabrera singled home Rizzo to give the Yankees the lead. Isiah Kiner-Falefa lined out, by Kyle Higashioka singled home Stanton. It was 7-4 Yankees.
Cabrera led off the top of the 7th with a double. IKF grounded out, which moved Cabrera to 3rd. Higgy grounded out, which got Cabrera home. Then came another pair of back-to-back homers, by Aaron Hicks and Judge. Judge's drive was an absolute blast: Before the TV cameras could even switch to following the ball, they caught Brewer pitcher Luis Perdomo throwing his hands up in frustration. He knew it was gone. It was Number 59, and it put the Yankees up 10-4.
Judge is now on the cusp of history. Only 2 players have ever hit 60 or more home runs in a season without cheating. And, like him, they were right fielders for the Yankees: Babe Ruth with 60 in 1927, and Roger Maris with 61 in 1961.
Of course, they were lefthanders, aiming for the short porch at the pre-renovation stadium, 296 feet down the line; he's a righthander, and, despite all the stupid jokes -- and if the new Yankee Stadium is a "little league field," how come other teams don't find homering there so easy? -- he's hitting into Death Valley in left and center field. Of course, Ruth didn't need a short porch, whereas Maris hit 39 the year before and 33 the year after, and never reached any of those totals in his other seasons. But for that one year, he was the best player in the game.
Back to the present. The Brewers made it 10-6 with a home run off Clarke Schmidt in the top of the 8th. With 1 out in the top of the 9th, IKF singled. Higgy flew out, but Hicks singled. For a moment, it looked like Judge might have hit Number 60, but it fell just short and bounced off the wall, scoring both runners.
On YES, Michael Kay said, "He's the only man alive that can give you a two-run double and you're disappointed!"I'm not disappointed. I'll take a two-run double anytime, from Judge or anyone else.
But the closer situation for the Yankees is still up in the air. To hold a 12-6 lead in the bottom of the 9th, Aaron Boone sent Wandy Peralta out to pitch, because he hates me and he wants me to sweat. Peralta allowed 3 straight singles. Having faced the minimum 3 batters, Boone took him out, and replaced him with Clay Holmes, who immediately allowed a ground-rule double. He got a flyout, then walked a batter. Bases loaded, tying run at the plate, only 1 out.
Holmes got out of it with a strikeout and a groundout, but it was a rough road to get there. These 2 teams combined to turn Milwaukee into Gopher Ball City yesterday. Yankees 12, Brewers 8. WP: Cole (12-7). No save: Even the situation that Peralta put Holmes in wasn't a save situation. LP: Hoby Milner (3-3). With the Toronto Blue Jays losing yesterday, the Magic Number to clinch the American League Eastern Division is 11.
The Yankees have today off, and have come home. The remaining schedule is as follows:
* Tomorrow and Wednesday nights, home to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
* Thursday and Friday nights, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday night on ESPN, home to the Boston Red Sox. Maris hit his 61st against the Sox, and I wouldn't mind it at all if Judge did the same -- although, at the rate our pitching is going, we made need it sooner.
* The following Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights, away to the Toronto Blue Jays. There's a good chance that one of those games could be the Division clincher.
* The following Friday night, Saturday and Sunday afternoon, home to the Baltimore Orioles.
* And the following Monday night, and Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, away to the Texas Rangers, makeup games from when the Spring Training lockout postponed the 1st week of the regular season.