Giancarlo Stanton left a game for a pinch hitter this weekend and went straight to the injured list with a hamstring injury.
So when Mike Tauchman of the dugout in the sixth inning called out Tuesday night to hit for Aaron Judge, the empty Yankee Stadium seats whispered to each other, ‘Is Judge hurt?’ ‘
Considering that the Yankees led by five runs in a ballpark that picked up runes at home and came down on Monday from a rest day – after a 2-5 road trip – and Thursday had another dark day, the timing of the move was interesting.
Judge saw the end of it, took his hand and went to the clubhouse.
However, after the Yankees bludgeoned Braves won in the first five innings and overcame some sluggish defense too late to copy a 9-6 victory, Aaron Boone said the removal of Judge was done for precautionary reasons and that the Judge fielder did not was wounded.
“Comes to the turf for four days [in St. Petersburg, Fla.] and with a little charge there, just try to be smart with these guys. [Judge] that day really has not been and I want to make sure we are smart with everyone, ” Boone said when asked if Judge was OK.
Judge certainly looked OK in the fifth when he launched his ninth homer to right field to extend the Yankees’ lead to 7-0. It went to 8-0 when Aaron Hicks scored when Mike Ford hit in a double play.
With Stanton away for an unknown period, Luke Voit hit clean sheets for the second straight game and destroyed a three-run homer from right-handed starter Touki Toussaint in the first inning. Three more came in the third when Ford doubled in a pair that made it 6-0 and gave the night the appearance of a laugher. Ford added an RBI double in the seventh.
With Jordan Montgomery not allowing a run through five, it looked like a stress-free night. Montgomery, however, gave a three-run homer to Marcell Ozuna in the sixth, a field error by DJ LeMahieu led to a run in the seventh and Gleyber Torres’ field mission helped the visitors place two runs in the eighth when Chad Green was called to pick up the last two outs. Zack Britton worked a perfect ninth for his sixth save in six chances.
‘I just went after her. I trusted my jobs better, ” Montgomery said when asked about the difference between early Tuesday and his previous one when he gave up five runs and six hits in four innings to the Phillies last Thursday in Philadelphia. ‘Smashed my cutter better and performed a lot more fastballs and substitutions late. The misunderstanding stepped up and really got a lot of runes for me. ”
Those runs shine over the fresh bats that belong to Hicks, Gary Sanchez, Brett Gardner and Torres. That fourth combined to go 1-for-13 and the hit was Hicks’ infield single in the third inning. Sanchez hit a ball hard from Toussaint’s right foot, but was chased away first. He was also accused of passing a ball.
With the lead to 9-6 in the eighth and Tyler Flowers on second with one out, Boone turned to Green for the final two outs and right winger Nick Markakis knocked out and ended the threat by Dansby Swanson on a ground to get Torres .
With an 8-0 lead early on, Boone probably did not think he would use Adam Ottavino, Green and Britton too late, but that’s how it developed.
“We’re in pretty good shape, especially with the off-day coming up again on Thursday,” Boone said of his pen. ‘We apparently did not play our best game, we got a little sluggish in the second half of the game. But a really good start from Monty and we swung the bats really well. ”
And according to Boone, Judge did not suffer an injury.
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