Judge HR in 1st Was All She Wrote. Cincinnati 6 NY 1

June 24, 2025 paperbacklou 2025 0

Aaron Judge hit his 28th homer of the year in the top of the 1st inning, and that was the only run the Yanks got as they fell to the Reds 6-1 in Cincinnati on a Monday night.

Allan Winans, who is 7-0 0.90 in AAA — got the start for NY due to the injury to Ryan Yarbrough — and looked great for 3 innings, but then came the 4th when Cincinnati put 3 runs on the board.

Elly De La Cruz led off the rally with a triple, and kept hitting all night long — driving in a run in the 5th with a single, and hitting a HR leading off the 8th to make it 5-1.

The Yanks peppered Nick Lodolo, Cincinnati’s 6’6 lefty starter, but he squashed Yankee rallies in the 2nd and 3rd, and got help from rightfielder Jake Fraley in the 5th, who made a tremendous catch to rob Paul Goldschmidt of an RBI double. The Reds’ bullpen took it from there, shutting NY down the rest of the night.

“Really sharp there the first time through the order,” said manager Aaron Boone on Winans. “I thought his mix was pretty good; spun it enough. Then coming back around he hits Fraley on the 1-1 pitch to start the inning, and then Fredo gets him so we have to chase them. Probably they had a look at him, got more of a beat on him, and he missed some pitches in the middle of the plate.”

NY drops to 45-33 and is in 1st in the AL East by 2 games over Tampa, 3.5 over Toronto, and 6 over Boston. Cincinnati falls to 41-38, 5.5 back in the NL Central.

1. Judge HR in 1st Was All Yanks Got

The Reds started 27-year-old, 6’6 lefty Nick Lodolo — and Aaron Judge greeted him by ripping a 94-MPH four-seam fastball into the ozone in left for a 1-0 Yankee lead in the 1st.

2. Winans Great — for 3 Innings

Meanwhile, NY started Alan Winans — the 29-year-old, 6’2 righty whom the Yanks picked up off waivers by Atlanta in January. Winans came up with and spent his whole career with Atlanta — surfacing with the big-league club for 40 innings over the last 2 years.

He has looked fantastic in AAA Scranton for NY, and looked fantastic the first 3 innings of this game — using mostly a tough 80-MPH changeup with intermixed 90-MPH four-seam fastball, 90-MPH sinker, and 90-MPH slider to motor through the Reds lineup.

But then came the 4th — when with 1 out he hit Matt McClain with a sinker, and next batter Elly De La Cruz — Cincy’s star shortstop — ripped a shot over Cody Bellinger‘s head in center and raced around the bases for a triple. Tie score 1-1.

Next batter Spencer Steer hit a sac fly to score De La Cruz, and next batter Gavin Lux hit a homer to right and it was 3-1 Cincinnati.

Winans hit Jake Fraley with a pitch to start the 4th, and after allowing a 1-out single to TJ Friedel, was relieved by Ian Hamilton with runners on 1st and 2nd, 1 out and NY down 3-1.

3. Hamilton Bad & Good

Ian Hamilton was no relief — at 1st — walking a batter to load the bases, and then coughing up a single to De La Cruz to make it 4-1 Cincinnati.

But Hamilton got a double play to end the 5th, and then pitched a shutout 6th, and got the first out of the 7th — so was credited with 2 shutout innings.

4. Yanks Pepper Lodolo But He Hangs Tough

Meanwhile the Yankees peppered Nick Lodolo in the 2nd and 3rd but couldn’t break through.

Lodolo struck out Anthony Volpe to begin the 2nd, but Austin Wells ripped a double to center off him, and DJ LeMahieu reached on an infield error at 3rd. With 1st and 3rd, 1 out — Lodolo struck out Jasson Dominguez and Paul Goldschmidt.

Cody Bellinger doubled to lead off the 3rd, but Lodolo got Judge to fly to center, struck out Giancarlo Stanton, and got Jazz Chisholm Jr. to ground out to strand the runner.

Lodolo pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 4th, but NY peppered away again in the 5th — a leadoff infield single by Jasson Dominguez, and then a SHOT to right by Paul Goldschmidt that Jake Fraley made a tremendous catch on — robbing Bellinger of an RBI double.

Next batter Cody Bellinger reached on an infield single and Lodolo was yanked, for reliever Scott Barlow — who got Judge to fly out, and struck out Giancarlo Stanton to end the threat.

5. Yank Rally in 8th Snuffed

The Yanks were shut down 1-2-3 in the 6th by Scott Barlow, and then went out 1-2-3 in the 7th against Nick Martinez.

In the 8th however, they mounted a rally against Tony Santillan — Cody Bellinger leading off with a double and Aaron Judge working a walk.

Down 4-1, this was NY’s chance to get back in the game.

But Santillan struck out Stanton and Chisholm, and got Volpe to ground out to end the threat.

6. De La Cruz HR in 8th Puts Game Away

De La Cruz put the game away in the bottom of the 8th with a leadoff HR off Tim Hill. Cincinnati 5 NY 1.

Mark Leiter Jr. came in and allowed a single to Spencer Steer, who stole 2nd after a fly out, and then scored on a 2-out infield single by Jose Trevino to make it 6-1 Cincinnati.

7. Pagan the Save

Jasson Dominguez got his 2nd hit of the night — a 1-out single in the 9th off reliever Emilio Pagan, but Paul Goldschmidt grounded out for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401696078

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