
It was looking dismal for the Yanks, losing to Pittsburgh 8-4 in the 9th inning, when Aaron Judge led off with his 60th homerun of the year! The homer turned Yankee Stadium electric, and seemed to ignite the NY lineup — the next 3 batters got on, and Giancarlo Stanton hit a walk-off Grand Slam for a magical, incredible, come-from-behind 9-8 Yankee win!
On a Monday night in the Bronx. 75 degrees and beautiful.
The win was HUGE as Toronto won, and it looked like the Yankee lead would drop to 4.5 games. Instead NY — now 89-58 — is still up by 5.5 over Toronto, and now 7.5 over Tampa and 13 over Baltimore. Pittsburgh is 55-93, 31.5 out.
“I was kind of kicking myself as I was running around the bases,” said Judge afterwards. “Like man you idiot, you should have done this earlier,” alluding to earlier in the game when he came up with the bases loaded.
“I thought I saw the ball pretty well tonite,” said Giancarlo afterwards, who was 0-3 with 3 strikeouts and was hearing boos at Yankee Stadium before the Slam. “Just didn’t show until the last at bat, but that’s the beauty of this game; that’s the difficulties of this game. I just have to take that into tomorrow.”
“They definitely don’t want to give up a homer,” added Giancarlo about pitchers facing Judge. “I would say the younger ones are the ones that — this is their first type of experience — they try so hard to not make a mistake that they make the mistake. It happens in the reverse sometimes, that you’re so nervous or get out of your mindset on the mound. So it’s cool to see — it’s cool to see that cat and mouse to begin with, that chess game they’re playing — and watching him time after time come out on top.”
Judge went 1-4 on the evening to take over 1st place in the AL batting title race, as Xander Bogaerts went 0-2 and Luis Arraez went 0-5.
Current AL leaders:
- Aaron Judge .316
- Xander Bogaerts .315
- Luis Arraez .314
1. Cortes Pitched Well
Nestor Cortes Jr. pitched well again and left after 5 innings (pitch limit) with a 2-1 lead. He escaped trouble in the 4th — consecutive singles after 1 out, and then a walk loaded the bases. Former Yank Greg Allen hit a Long Fly Ball to the wall in left — but Oswaldo Cabrera leaped at the wall and caught it — thanks to Cabrera it was just a sac fly for a 1-0 Pittsburgh lead.
2. Bader Provides Early Offense
Harrison Bader — in his first game in pinstripes — provided the early offense for the Yankees — going 2 for 4 and driving in 3 of the Yankees’ first 4 runs.
Bader ripped a single through the left side for a 1-1 tie in the 5th off Pirates starter Luis Ortiz.
First knock in pinstripes, first RBI ✅
Welcome home, @aybaybader. pic.twitter.com/QRNxukmPmX
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 21, 2022
Jose Trevino followed with an RBI single and it was 2-1 NY.
3. Trivino Coughs Up Lead
In the top of the 6th, Ron Marinaccio allowed 2 on but got the 2nd out — on an easy fly by Greg Allen — and Aaron Boone yanked him, as he so often does — pulling a pitcher who had just gotten an out with 2 outs in an inning, as John Sterling observed on the radio.
In came Lou Trivino who allowed a 2-RBI double to Jason Delay and there went Cortes’s win — Pittsburgh 3 NY 2.
4. Bader Rings Up Runs Again; Judge K’s with Bases Loaded
The Yanks came right back in the bottom of the 6th — a Josh Donaldson single, Oswaldo Cabrera walk, and 2-RBI single through the right side by Harrison Bader gave NY back a lead, 4-3.
That's big time, Bader. pic.twitter.com/60rpvOeNTW
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 21, 2022
Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Trevino both singled to load the bases with 1 out, and the count went 3-1 to Aaron Judge, as all of Yankee Stadium was on its feet. But Judge fouled off two pitches before striking out swinging.
4. Trivino, Loaisiga, Holmes Cough Up Lead
Lou Trivino immediately gave the lead back in the top of the 7th — coughing up a leadoff homer to Bryan Reynolds, who was 4 for 5 on the evening — and it was a 4-4 tie.
Jonathan Loaisiga was done in by the defense in the top of the 8th — he got the 1st out, then a walk, then a groundout to 1st but a throwing error by Anthony Rizzo put 2 on with 1 out. An infield single by Ryan Reynolds scored the run to give Pittsburgh a 5-4 lead.
And then Clay Holmes came in and gave up a 3-run homer to right to Castro on an 86-MPH slider that went right down the middle of the strike zone. Pittsburgh 8 NY 4 and game seemingly over.
5. Judge’s 60th
And so it was to the 9th, with Wil Crowe, the Pirates “closer” pitching, and the game seemingly over with Pittsburgh up 8-4 and Toronto winning their game big — meaning NY’s lead would fall to 4.5 games.
But Aaron Judge put a charge into the evening with his 60th homerun.
No. 60 ties The Sultan of Swat for 2nd all-time in American League history!@TheJudge44 👨⚖️ pic.twitter.com/DNwFXsJFMC
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 21, 2022
John Sterling’s call:
"He's tied the Babe!" Aaron Judge blasts homer #60!#SterlingCam
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) September 21, 2022
The scuttle for the ball.
Here’s the dog pile of people fighting for it pic.twitter.com/C2y8zWf4Rx
— Steve (@HonnyWags) September 21, 2022
The guy who caught the ball gave it back to Judge, with his friends.
The young fan who caught Judge’s HR ball got a signed ball and bat (and friends got signed balls too) pic.twitter.com/xToXPG7H0B
— Marly Rivera (@MarlyRiveraESPN) September 21, 2022
6. Giancarlo’s Slam Wins It
But the Yankees weren’t done. Anthony Rizzo doubled, Gleyber Torres walked, and Josh Donaldson blooped a single in to load the bases with nobody out. Up steipped Giancarlo Stanton — who hit a bullet line drive into the left field seats for the game-winning, walk-off Grand Slam!
Grand Slam Stan. pic.twitter.com/GpdUztMQvM
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 21, 2022
John Sterling’s call:
A grand slam to win the game!
Giancarlo! Non si puo STOPPARLO! A STANTONIAN home run!
I don't know if it's the greatest Yankee win of the year- but, baby, it's right there! pic.twitter.com/wQw0KFYb5C
— John Sterling Calls (@JSterlingCalls) September 21, 2022
Etcetera
- Aroldis Chapman pitched a 1-2-3 top of the 9th for the win — more good news!
The Boxscore
https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401356416
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