Oriole Pen Ruins Judge Superman Bobblehead Performance. Baltimore 5 NY 3

June 21, 2025 paperbacklou 2025 0

It was Aaron Judge Superman Bobblehead night at the Stadium, and Aaron Judge played the part — breaking out of his recent 6-game slump by going 3-4 with a walk and his 27th HR of the year, a solo blast which put the Yanks on top 3-2 in the 3rd.

The Yanks knocked Oriole starter Tomoyuki Sugano around for 3 runs on 7 hits in those first 3 innings, but the Oriole bullpen came in to throw 5.1 innings of shutout ball, leading Baltimore to a 5-3 win on beautiful, 75-degree, low-humidity Friday night in the Bronx.

Luke Weaver coughed up the loss — coming in for his first game in 3 weeks due to a hamstring pull, and allowing a HR to Ramon Urias on a 3-2 pitch in the top of the 8th to break a 3-3 tie and make it 4-3 Baltimore. Weaver got 2 outs sandwiching 2 singles, and left for Tim Hill, who allowed a single to make it 5-3.

Max Fried allowed 2 runs in the 1st on 2 hit-by-pitches and a single, then settled down to throw shutout ball into the 6th, when he allowed a 3rd run on some singles.

The Yanks lost a run in the 4th when DJ LeMahieu was called out at home on a throw from right fielder Ramon Laureano — NY lost the challenge although many Yank fans felt he appeared safe. NY banged the ball around for the first 6 innings, but the 3 runs was all they could muster.

“Good at bats tonite,” said manager Aaron Boone afterwards. “On the heels of yesterday — Laureano makes a great throw to cut a runner down at the plate; a number of balls hit on the screws even, flying out to the fence and stuff. With the exception of a couple of guys scuffling a little bit, I thought really quality at bats all night, which was good to see. You talk about heavy at bats; I felt that was the case tonite, we just didn’t break through and put a big number on the board.”

NY drops to 43-32, in 1st in the AL East by 1.5 over Tampa, 3 over Toronto, and 4 over Boston. Baltimore drops to 33-42.

1. Fried Good

Max Fried was off on his control to start the game. He allowed a leadoff single, then hit 2 batters amidst getting 2 outs — loading the bases.

Old friend Gary Sanchez hit a 2-out single to left and it was 2-0 Baltimore.

After that Fried settled down — pitching a 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd and 3rd, striking out 4.

Fried cruised through the 4th and 5th, holding a 3-2 lead — but ran into trouble in the 6th. After 1 out, Colton Cowser singled to right, Gary Sanchez reached on an infield single to 3rd, and Coby Mayo singled to center to tie the game 3-3.

Aaron Boone came out, but Fried convinced him to let him stay in the game. Fried then got a fly out and ground out to end the inning and his evening; game tied 3-3.

Fried’s line: 6 IP, 7 hits, 3 runs, 7 K’s, 0 walks, 2 hit batters. He gets no decision, and is now 9-2 2.05 on the year.

2. Yanks Tie Game with Small Ball in 1st

The Yanks immediately tied the game with 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st off Tomoyuki Sugano. Paul Goldschmidt led off with a walk, Trent Grisham followed with a walk, and Aaron Judge singled to load the bases with nobody out.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. looped a single to left making it a 2-1 game.

With bases loaded and still nobody out, Giancarlo Stanton struck out, but Jasson Dominguez hit a sac fly to center to tie it 2-2.

3. Judge’s 27th HR Gives NY 3-2 Lead in 3rd

Aaron “Superman” Judge hit a 368-foot HR to right center to start the 3rd, giving the Yanks a 3-2 lead.

4. Volpe in a Slump

After Judge’s HR in the 3rd, Giancarlo Stanton and Jasson Dominguez had back-to-back 1-out singles, but Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells struck out.

Volpe is one of the players Boone was referring to as ‘scuffling a little bit’.

Volpe went 0-4 on the night, striking out twice, and is hitless in his last 24 at bats. The slump has dropped Volpe’s batting average from .252 to .228. He is now slashing 8-40-.228 (.302 OBP). He still has a +1.4 WAR.

5. DJ Out at Home in 4th

DJ LeMahieu led off the 4th with a double, but Goldschmidt flied out and Grisham just missed an extra-base hit, ripping a fly out to the wall in right center.

With 2 outs, Baltimore intentionally walked Aaron Judge, and Keegan Akin was brought in, relieving Sugano.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. greeted Akin with a single to right — but Laureano threw a strike home, just nailing DJ LeMahieu — or not. It was close.

6. Yanks Can’t Finish Rallies in 5th or 6th

Giancarlo Stanton and Jasson Dominguez both walked to leadoff the 5th against Akin, but Anthony Volpe grounded out and Austin Wells grounded into a double play.

DJ LeMahieu singled off Yanier Cano to start the 6th, and Aaron Judge singled with 2 outs — but Jazz Chisholm grounded out to end the inning.

7. Weaver Rusty

Jonathan Loaisiga pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 7th, so the game remained tied at 3-3 when Luke Weaver came in for the top of the 8th. He went 0-2 on Ramon Urias, then threw 3 balls, and came in with a 96-MPH fastball that Urias put into the short porch for a 4-3 Baltimore lead.

Weaver then struck out Colton Cowser, but old friend Gary Sanchez worked a walk, and Ryan O’Hearn singled. Weaver got Dylan Carlson to line out and was relieved by Tim Hill, with 2 outs and 2 on.

Hill allowed a single to left to Gunnar Henderson and it was 5-3 Baltimore.

8. Baltimore Bullpen Shuts NY Down

And that was it for NY.

Scott Blewett a 29-year-old, 6’6 righty, pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 7th and the 8th, striking out 2.

And 6’8 Felix Bautista came in for the 9th. Grisham worked a 3-2 count — hoping to get on for Judge. But he flew out to right, and then Bautista struck out Judge and Chisholm for the old ballgame.

Etcetera

Yankee Stadium was PACKED for the Judge Superman Bobblehead, which was given out to the first 18,000 fans.

When asked what he thought of it afterwards, Judge said “I haven’t seen it. I didn’t get one — they don’t give us any down here. I have to make a phone call to get some for us down here. I’ll have a good answer for you later.”

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401696033

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*