Judge (4 Hits) & Rizzo Tag-Team Yanks to Victory. NY 7 Cincinnati 4 in 10

May 21, 2023 paperbacklou 2023 0

Aaron Judge drove in the winning run in the top of the 10th with an RBI single, and Anthony Rizzo hit a 2-run homer to put NY up 7-4 and ice it.

It was a culmination of the duo tag-teaming on offense all afternoon: Judge went 4-4 with 3 RBI’s and Anthony Rizzo was right behind him — in the lineup and in performance — 2-5 with 3 RBI’s.

They overcame a so-so Jhony Brito start, and a 4-1 deficit in the 4th. And they had help from a Yankee bullpen that shut the Reds out the last 6 innings of the game. Ron Marinaccio and Michael King pitched 2 shutout innings each, and Clay Holmes and Ryan Webber 1 shutout inning each.

Ben Rortvedt made his first appearance as a Yankee, and went 2 for 4 with a double.

And in other big news — the Yankees announced just as the game was starting — at 4pm EST — that Aaron Hicks had been Designated for Assignment (DFA’d) and that Greg Allen (just acquired in the morning) was taking his spot on the roster.

On a late Saturday afternoon in Cincinnati; raining in NY for those watching at home.

“I’ve never caught Holmes, so him coming in with the shadows was … a little different.” said Ben Rortvedt afterwards. “He’s as advertised. It was fun. It was a good experience.”

“His ability and athleticism behind the plate,” said manager Aaron Boone about the lefty swinging Rortvedt. “He’s compact like Trevi a little bit. Really good receiver; really good hands, and can really throw. Really good athlete back there. All those things are why we got him. It’s good to see him healthy and contributing.”

NY improves to 28-20 — still 6.5 behind Tampa and 3 behind Baltimore. Cincinnati falls to 19-26.

1. Brito So-So

The Yanks had the starter listed as TBA the morning of the game — it was either going to be Jhony Brito or a reliever ‘opening’ with Brito coming in right after. The later approach worked well the last time Brito was scheduled to start — but the ‘opener’ for that game — Jimmy Cordero — had just pitched the night before.

  • So NY went with Brito to start. And he immediately allowed a run in the bottom of the 1st on a walk and RBI single by Jake Fraley.
  • Brito pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd and all looked good.
  • But in the 3rd, after getting the first 2 outs — Brito walked 3 straight batters and an infield single to Spencer Steers made it 2-1 Cincinnati.
  • In the 4th, Brito again got the first 2 outs. But then an infield single and homerun to Luke Maile and Cincinnati was up 4-1. Yankee Twitter was howling to get this bum out of here.

2. Rortvedt & Judge Get a Run Off Weaver in 2nd

Meanwhile Reds starter Luke Weaver was limiting the Yankees. He allowed consecutive singles to start the game by Gleyber Torres and Aaron Judge — but got Rizzo to hit into a double play then struck out DJ LeMahieu.

In the 3rd, Ben Rortvedt got his first hit as a Yankee — a 1-out double off the wall in left.

Aaron Judge got a clutch 2-out single to plate Rortvedt and tie the game 1-1 at the time.

3. Yanks Hit Parade Off Weaver in 4th

Things were looking dim for NY — down 4-1 in the 4th — when Isiah Kiner-Falefa ignited the Yankee offense against Weaver with a 368-foot homerun to left, and a 4-2 game.

It was the first of 6 straight Yankee hits — Ben Rortvedt singled, Gleyber Torres singled, and Aaron Judge doubled home a run for a 4-3 game.

Anthony Rizzo singled to right to score Gleyber Torres but the Yankee 3rd base coach Luis Rojas for some reason sent Judge too and he was out by a mile at the plate. Tie game but NY could’ve been in position to take a lead had Judge stayed at 3rd with only 1 out.

That chased Weaver — and DJ LeMahieu singled off reliever Alex Young to no avail — it only made it 1st and 2nd; Harrison Bader made out and the score stayed 4-4.

4. Rojas & Toronto Manager Dueling Blunders

That mistake by Yankee 3rd base coach Rojas loomed larger and larger as the game progressed — as the score stayed 4-4 into extra innings.

It was ironic that Rojas made the mistake because at about the same exact time in Toronto, Blue Jays manager John Schneider — who had fought with Rojas last week — made an even more egregious judgement blunder, visiting Alek Manoah a second time in the 6th inning — which inadvertently forced Manoah from the game against Baltimore. That game was 2-2 at the time and Baltimore won in 10 innings.

5. Yank Bullpen Brilliant

But the Yankee bullpen bailed Rojas out — pitching shutout ball the rest of the way.

  • Ron Marinaccio pitched a shutout 5th and 6th — strikeout-lineout-groundout and then walk-striketout-flyout-strikeout. The flyout in the 6th was not just any flyout — as Isiah Kiner-Falefa made a heart-attack catch in left trying to find the ball in the sun.

  • Michael King pitched a shutout 7th and 8th — groundout-double-strikeout-flyout and then strikeout-striketout-groundout.
  • Clay Holmes pitched a shutout bottom of 9th — groundout, flyout, walk, strikeout.

6. Judge & Rizzo Win It in 10th

And so it was to the 10th — Greg Allen — just acquired before the game — sent in to run for Ben Rortvedt — the inherited runner to start the inning at 2nd.

Gleyber Torres flied out to right sending the superfast Allen to 3rd, and bring up Aaron Judge who ripped a single to left and a 5-4 Yankee lead.

Anthony Rizzo was right behind — golfing one just down the line in right for a 363-foot homer and 7-4 Yankee lead.

7. WebDog Gets the Save

Ryan Weber — who in the span of 5 days has gone from doormat to Yankee hero again like he did last year — pitched a shutout 10th. Weber never allowing the inherited runner to move from 2nd — strikeout, groundout to 3rd, groundout for the old ballgame.

Etcetera

  • Judge had hit 7 homers in his previous 7 games. The Reds figured out a way to not give up a homer to him in this game; instead he HAMMERED 4 singles to left, going 4-4 with a walk to raise his average to .299 (.400 OBP).
  • Rizzo went 2-5 to raise his average to .303 (.385 OBP).
  • Gleyber Torres snapped out of a mini slump with a 2-5 performance, raising his average to .253 (.340 OBP).

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401471704

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