Aaron Judge Takes Responsibility For Harrison Bader's Costly Error in Game 3 of ALCS
NEW YORK — In a matter of minutes, Yankees ace Gerrit Cole went from briskly walking off the mound, finishing a quick inning, to hanging his head, needing a new baseball after a souvenir went soaring into the stands.
Astros catcher Christian Vazquez reached on an error from Harrison Bader in center field with two outs in the second inning of Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on Saturday. Three pitches later, Cole served a fastball on a platter to No. 9 hitter Chas McCormick. The center fielder sent a screaming line drive to right, a blast that skipped off the top of the short porch and into the crowd.
With New York's offense reeling, unable to score a single run as the Yankees lost their third game in a row to start this series, that early deficit proved to be a fatal blow in Game 3.
The story on Saturday was the offense, a unit that's been pictured in black and white on milk cartons in New York and Houston since the ALCS began. The same can be said about the Astros' dominant and dynamic pitching staff, a stable of arms that's held the Yankees to a .128 batting average and .435 OPS with 41 strikeouts in 27 innings.
Nonetheless, the play that allowed McCormick to step up to the plate in the second inning was a turning point in this game, a moment that changed the trajectory of Cole's start.
New York's ace had thrown 21 pitches in the first inning, needing an efficient second frame. On his seventh pitch of the inning, with two outs already in the bag, Vazquez looped a shallow fly ball to right-center field on a 1-1 slider, a pitch that was dotted on the outside corner.
The blooper had a .060 expected batting average. It was routine. It also fell to the grass, bouncing out of Bader's glove as Aaron Judge leaned back, narrowly avoiding a collision.
"That's just what happens when you've got two guys on defense that go really hard every time the ball is hit in their vicinity," Bader said after the game. "It was placed perfectly between us."
Bader explained that he was shaded toward right field before the pitch was thrown. That was his predetermined positioning with Vazquez at the dish, facing Cole. The Gold Glover had a beat on it, calling for it, until he saw a monstrous figure in pinstripes barreling in his direction out of the corner of his eye.
"We both got a little spooked," Bader said. "He's like nine feet tall. So you don't want to get anybody hurt. You go really hard, but you don't want to get anybody hurt. You always keep the big picture involved too."
Judge was candid when speaking about the play, owning up to it right away. He knew, in retrospect, that it was Bader's ball and that he got in the way, preventing the center fielder from hauling it in.
"We're both going for it, both calling for it," Judge said. "At the last second, I hear him and I'm trying to get out of the way so I think I definitely messed him up on that play. I gotta take responsibility for that. He's the center fielder. When he calls it, I gotta drop and get out of the way and couldn't move quick enough."
Cole and Bader both referred to that play as "unfortunate."
"Baseball is a funny game," Bader added. "It's just the placement of the ball which was out of our control and just in the middle. Those things happen, unfortunately."
The margin for error is now nonexistent for the Yankees. If they want to survive and advance, they'll need to win each of the next four games. It's been done before—by the Red Sox against the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS—but it's a seemingly impossible feat. Forget winning three games to tie this series, New York hasn't proven they're capable of scoring three runs in a single game at this point.
In other words, they can't afford any more moments like what happened with Judge and Bader in the second inning of Game 3. Nor the subsequent mistake pitch from Cole to McCormick, leading to the right-hander's 36th home run allowed in 2022. The offense needs to step it up if the Yankees want to stave off elimination on Sunday (as well as Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday).
MORE:
- Nestor Cortes: Aaron Judge Should Be Yankees’ Captain If He Returns
- Aaron Boone Sticking With Josh Donaldson at Third Base
- Yankees' Offense Has Disappeared When They Need It Most
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