Yankees takeaways from Tuesday's 6-5 win over Orioles, including Aaron Judge and Anthony Volpe heroics
Aaron Judge hit a game-tying homer and Anthony Volpe had his first career walk-off as the Yankees came back to beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-5, on Tuesday night in The Bronx.
Here are some takeaways...
- Gerrit Cole came into Tuesday’s game two strikeouts away from 2,000 for his career, but he would have trouble getting them early on. After getting two quick pop-outs, Cole walked Anthony Santander and Ryan Mountcastle after being ahead in the count. Adam Frazier lined a 2-2 slider toward Judge, who reached for the ball but it bounced off the edge of the reigning MVP’s glove. Cole would limit the damage to those two runs, getting a lineout to end the top half of the first after 27 pitches.
The YES broadcast showed Cole looking at the thumb on his throwing hand pregame, which could be the cause. However, he would bounce back in the second inning, getting a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts, including the 2,000th of his career.
Cole would scatter a pair of solo shots (Cedric Mullins, Gunnar Henderson) in this one, but he could not get out of the sixth inning after giving up back-to-back singles after the Yankees tied the game at 4-4. Ron Marinaccio came on in relief and after a strikeout, gave up an infield single. A fielder’s choice allowed the Orioles to take a 5-4 lead. After a walk to load the bases, Marinaccio got Mullins to fly out to end the threat.
Cole’s final line: 5+ IP (99 pitches/63 strikes), six hits, five runs, three walks, two strikeouts.
-The Yanks' offense was kept in check by Orioles starter Kyle Bradish early on. Aside from a Harrison Bader solo shot in the fourth, the Yankees couldn’t get that big hit. However, after back-to-back singles by Oswaldo Cabrera and Gleyber Torres to lead off, Anthony Rizzo followed a Judge lineout with a double to plate one and cut the deficit to 4-2. DJ LeMahieu singled in another run, and Bader drove in the tying run on a sac fly.
New York would have a chance to tie the game in the seventh with Baltimore's stud reliever, Yennier Cano on the mound. They would get men on the corners with one out when LeMahieu attempted a safety squeeze. The first attempt went foul, but the second bunt went straight to Cano who flipped it home to get Torres easily. Bader would ground out to end the Yankee threat. The Yankees have made seven base-running outs at home this season, tied with the A's for third most in the MLB -- behind the Rangers and Pirates who both have nine.
- Down 5-4 in the ninth inning, and with the top of the lineup at the plate, Torres started with a strikeout. Judge, down 0-2, launched a splitter that was over the plate into the left-field seats to tie the game at 5-5.
Michael King, who worked a shutout ninth, had a clean 10th inning to give the Yankees a chance to win it. Bader moved a pinch-running Isiah Kiner-Falefa to third with a groundout, and after an intentional walk to Willie Calhoun, Volpe hit a sac fly to score the winning run. Volpe went 0-for-4 but had the first walk-off of his career.
- Tuesday was Judge's first game since Saturday, and the first since he won AL Player of the Week honors where he hit .500. with a .611 OBP, five homers, and 11 RBI. However, the Orioles held Judge down until that ninth-inning homer. The reigning AL MVP finished 1-for-4 with a walk in the game.
Highlights
What’s Next
The Yankees continue their three-game series with the Orioles on Wednesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:06 p.m. at The Stadium.
Nestor Cortes looks to keep the Yankees rolling when he goes up against Tyler Wells.
