Aaron Judge hit a dramatic, game-tying homer in the bottom of the 8th, but Aroldis Chapman blew it in the 9th to send the Yanks to a 3-1 defeat in the 1st game of a doubleheader on a beautiful May Sunday at Yankee Stadium.
Josh Donaldson came ‘this close’ to getting revenge for Tim Anderson‘s false accusations of racism the day before, when he just missed a 3-run homer in the 8th following Judge’s homer.
The accusation came after Tim Anderson took exception at being called “Jackie” by Josh Donaldson — a ribbing because he referred to himself as the next Jackie Robinson who would bring ‘fun’ back to baseball in a 2019 Sports Illustrated article. There was an on-field skirmish and post-game interviews where Anderson threw the race card — claiming Donaldson was being racist in ribbing him in such a way, never mentioning the Sports Illustrated tie.
1. Taillon Brilliant for 7 Innings
The good news for the Yanks was that Jameson Taillon pitched brilliantly — 7 innings allowing only 5 hits and 1 run, striking out 7 and walking 1.
2. Hicks Stumbles
Johnny Cuerto was making his first start of the year and was on his game — 6 shutout innings. So despite Taillon’s terrific pitching, the Yanks were down 1-0 heading into the 7th.
In the bottom of the 7th, Aaron Hicks led off with a single and Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled him to 2nd with nobody out.
Joe Kelly relieved Cuerto. Hicks took a big lead off 2nd, and when Kelly spun around to try and pick him off, Hicks stumbled and fell down and was a dead duck. Even Kelly was surprised at how easy he picked him off.
Hicks — despite the leadoff single and being 2 for 3 at the time in the game — got booed on field and was derided unmercifully on Yankee Twitter.
3. Judge — Pay the Man
Things were looking bleak for the Yanks in the bottom of the 8th, down 1-0 with Kendall Graverman on the mound. DJ LeMahieu lined out but Aaron Judge stepped up and hit a bomb to left for a tie game — causing Yankee Stadium to erupt.
Big Blast for BAJ 💪 pic.twitter.com/HB81WFBtuT
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 22, 2022
4. Donaldson Almost Gets Revenge
Anthony Rizzo followed with a double and Giancarlo Stanton was intentionally walked to send up Josh Donaldson. And this is when Donaldson hit the drive to center that was caught near the wall — he “Just Missed” his revenge on the false racist accusations by Tim Anderson.
Aaron Hicks popped to 3rd to end the threat.
5. Chappy Blows Another
And so it was to the 9th. Aaron Boone brought in Aroldis Chapman, who had struggled in his last outing. And he struggled again — allowing a homerun on the 2nd pitch to the 1st batter he faced, AJ Pollock. Chicago 2 NY 1.
Chapman got an out, but then walked a batter, threw a wild pitch, threw a pitch that escaped Jose Trevino for a passed ball, then allowed an RBI double and the game was out of reach.
Boone brought in Ron Marinaccio but the Yanks were done.
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