Judge Off to a TORRID Start. NY 9 Arizona 7

April 4, 2025 paperbacklou 2025 0

Aaron Judge hit a 3-run BLAST in the 1st inning, knocked in a run with an RBI single in the 4th, and went 3-5 with 4 RBI’s to lead the Yanks to a 9-7 win over Arizona on a beautiful, warm Thursday night in the Bronx.

Judge now has a league-leading 5 HR’s and 15 RBI’s after the first 6 games of the season, with a .417 batting average, .481 OBP, 1.167 slugging pct, and 1.648 OPS.

Jazz Chisholm also rocked a 2-run Homer, as did Trent Grisham — the Yankees racing out to a 9-3 lead for winning pitcher Carlos Carrasco.

But the Yanks still had to bring in Luke Weaver for a 4-out save as new Yankee Ryan Yarbrough coughed up 2 walks, a single, and a Grand Slam to the first 4 batters he faced in the 7th, making it a ballgame again.

“I feel like he’s still getting there — which is remarkable,” chuckled manager Aaron Boone about Judge. “Loved that first swing — see him going that way; had a base hit last night; had another base hit up the middle there to get us an insurance run early. Love that approach from him.”

NY is now 4-2; Arizona is 4-3.

1. Judge Starts It Off with a BLAST

The Yanks got started right away against Arizona righthander Merrill Kelly, now 36 years old, who came in with a 1-0 1.63 record after beating the Cubs in his first start of the season.

Ben Rice, leading off, ripped a grounds-rule double to right, Cody Bellinger walked, and Aaron Judge hit a 394-foot Bomb to right center for a 3-0 Yankee lead.

2. Grisham Makes It 4-0 in the 1st

Jasson Dominguez then singled with 1 out, and with 2 outs, Trent Grisham doubled to left, just out of reach of leftfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr, and NY was on top 4-0.

3. Grisham HR Makes It 6-1 in the 3rd

The Yanks made it 6-1 in the 3rd, when Anthony Volpe reached on a 2-out infield single, and Trent Grisham rocked a 354-foot homer to right.

4. With Carrasco On Mound — Need More Runs

But not so fast as Carlos Carrasco was on the mound for NY. The 38-year-old former Cleveland Ace who did well with the Mets 2 years ago made the Yankee club in Spring Training as an insurance starter, and was thrust into the starting staff after the injuries to Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, and Clarke Schmidt.

Carrasco relies on a lot of 85-MPH sliders intermixed with a 91-MPH four-seam fastball, an 86-MPH changeup, an 89-MPH sinker, and occasional 77-MPH curveball.

Carlos started off well — throwing a shutout 1st striking out 2.

Carrasco allowed a run in the 2nd on a walk and a double, then threw a shutout 3rd.

But in the 4th — with NY up 6-1 — Carrasco allowed a leadoff walk, then a single to Josh Naylor, and a double to Lourdes Gurriel Jr to score a run.

Carlos looked on the ropes — but struck out 3rd baseman Eugenio Suarez, got centerfielder Alek Thomas to ground out making it a 6-3 game, and got 2nd baseman Garrett Hampson to ground out to end the inning.

The Yanks were going to need more runs.

5. Chisholm HR Makes It 9-3 in the 4th

And the Yanks immediately got those runs in the bottom of the 4th — Ben Rice walking with 1 out, stealing 2nd, and then, with 2 outs (after Cody Bellinger struck out), Aaron Judge ripping a Clutch 2-out single to center for a 7-3 Yankee lead.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed Judge by RIPPING a Homer 387 feet to right for a 9-3 game.

6. Carrasco Rope-a-Dopes 5.1 Innings for the Win

Blessed with the 9-3 lead, Carrasco continued to rope-a-dope the Diamondbacks — allowing a leadoff single in the top of the 5th, but then getting a double play and a lineout to end the inning.

In the 6th, Carrasco got a fly out before allowing a double to Josh Naylor and was relieved by new-old Yankee Adam Ottavino, who got the final 2 outs of the inning.

In all, Carrasco’s line was 5.1 IP, 5 hits, 3 runs, 5 K’s, 2 walks. He wins to go 1-0 7.36.

7. Yarbrough Disaster in the 7th

But the game wasn’t over — new Yankee and former Yankee nemesis and Blue Jay standout Ryan Yarbrough took the mound for the 7th and it wasn’t pretty — walk, walk, single, Grand Slam by Perdomo. Yankees 9 Arizona 7.

Yarbrough finally got a groundout and fly out and was relieved with 2 outs by Mark Leiter Jr.

8. Leiter Good

Leiter, who had coughed up the Grand Slam to lose the 1st game of the series, was much better tonite. He got the last out of the 7th, and then the first 2 outs of the 8th before allowing a single to Ketel Marte and being relieved by Luke Weaver for the 4-out save.

9. Weaver the 4-Out Save

With the tying run at the plate in the 8th, Weaver got Gabriel Moreno to ground out to 1st — and Paul Goldschmidt fielded it and Raced to 1st to end the inning (the way Anthony Rizzo should have in that 5th inning of WS Game 5 last year).

In the 9th, facing the top of the Arizona lineup, got Corbin Carroll to ground out, Geraldo Perdomo to fly out, and 1st baseman Pavin Smith to strike out swingin for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401695002

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