Aaron Judge went 4 for 5 with 2 homers, a double that just missed being a homer, and a single for 3 RBI’s – and Yankee Twitter was treated to another Aroldis Chapman free roller coaster ride, in the 5-4 NY victory at Camden Yards.
Chapman got the first 2 outs of the 9th but then allowed consecutive singles and a double to make it 5-4, 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs and Cedric Mullins, Baltimore’s leadoff hitter, at the plate. But Chapman got Mullins to pop out to DJ LeMahieu at 3rd base for the old ballgame, causing a collective PHEW across the flittering heart beats of Yankee Twitter.
The other hero of the game was Michael King, who came into a 1-run game with a leadoff runner on 2nd in the 6th, and struck out the side en route to 3 perfect, shutout innings.
NY improved to 27-9, the best record in baseball. On a beautiful, 70-degree May Tuesday evening in Baltimore.
1. Taillon Good
Jameson Taillon pitched 5 solid innings. He wasn’t able to hold a 1-0 lead nor a 2-1 lead, but did manage to leave with a 4-3 lead, and thanks to Michael King, get the win. Taillon’s line: 5 innings 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 K’s and 1 walk. 82 pitches. He is now 4-1 3.28.
2. Judge Phenomenal
Aaron Judge not only got 4 hits including the 2 homers, but he made a spectacular catch to rob Baltimore of a homerun in the 3rd inning.
Judge was held out for “rest” the night before at Camden Yards — which some Yankee fans on Twitter felt was done on purpose to keep his stats down in this his contract year. It did affect Judge: “I was pissed I was out yesterday,” said Judge afterwards when asked what had him dialed in.
DJ LeMahieu led off the game with a hit by a pitch from Orioles starter Spenser Watkins, and then Judge hit a double off the top of the left field wall to drive him in and make it 1-0 NY. Judge was thrown out at 3rd by a hair trying to leg it into a triple — he was actually safe at first but his slide took him off the bag.
All Rise for a 4-hit night from @TheJudge44 💪
Presented by @Delta pic.twitter.com/FDhesKKta7
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 18, 2022
Baltimore changed the dimensions of Camden Yards this off season to make it harder to hit homeruns there — moving the fences back and increasing the height of the left-field wall. Judge’s ball would have been out with the old dimensions, but hit off the top of the wall in left.
Judge homered to right-center in the top of the 3rd to give NY a 2-1 lead.
The Judge got all of that one. pic.twitter.com/Unv5ySMoBh
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 17, 2022
Judge homered to center (422 foot shot) to tie the game 3-3 in the top of the 5th.
Twice, twice, baby. pic.twitter.com/bhqDS3JiGF
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 18, 2022
3. King Spectacular
The Yanks took a 4-3 lead in the top of the 6th when they loaded the bases against Dillon Tate with 1 out (Gleyber Torres single, Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit by pitch, and Kyle Higashioka walk) and DJ LeMahieu grounded out for a run.
Taillon took that lead into the bottom of the 6th but allowed a leadoff double to Trey Mancini. It looked like he was going to lose the win. But that’s when manager Aaron Boone went to Michael King, who came in and struck out the next 3 batters in the middle of the Baltimore lineup.
King pitched a 1-2-3 7th and 8th inning as well, striking out 3. Another fantastic performance from King.
9 up. 9 down. 6 Ks.@7Kinger14 👑 pic.twitter.com/xxWn5Qczxl
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 18, 2022
4. Chappy Free Roller Coaster Ride
The Yankees added an insurance run in the 7th to make it 5-3 when Josh Donaldson doubled with 2 out, and Gleyber Torres hit a shot to shortstop that went right past Ramon Urias for an error — his second poor play of the evening.
And so the Yankees went to the 9th with a 5-3 lead and Chapman coming in. Yankee Twitter buckled up.
Chapman got the first 2 outs, leading many to a false sense of security and you could hear the seat belts being unbuckled on Yankee Twitter – figuring Chapman ‘had it’ this evening. Especially after he got 2 strikes on Robinson Chirinos – who looked to be the final batter of the game.
But then – single, single (off Chapman’s glove into centerfield), and double by Ryan McKenna (a fly to left that looked like Joey Gallo would catch but it fell in). A run was in and it was 5-4 NY, runners on 2nd and 3rd – the tying run on 3rd, the winning run on 2nd – and here came the very tough out – Cedric Mullins – Baltimore’s leadoff batter.
Chapman threw a strike and then got Mullins on a high pop up in foul territory to DJ LeMahieu at 3rd for the old ballgame. PHEW!
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