From Mark Feinsand:
Aaron Judge’s two-run blast brought the Yankee Stadium fans to their feet in the top of the third inning in Wednesday’s 11-2 win over the Nationals. Little did they realize things were just getting started.
The Yankees sent 15 batters to the plate in the inning, scoring nine runs on eight hits, three walks and, of all things, a catcher’s interference call. The inning lasted a whopping 41 minutes.
“It was outstanding,” manager Aaron Boone said. “That was some banging right there.”
Cade Cavalli allowed a leadoff single by Ben Rice before serving up back-to-back homers by Judge and Cody Bellinger. And these weren’t “Yankee Stadium home runs,” either.
Judge’s blast clocked in at 107.2 mph and 424 feet, clearing the center-field fence to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead on his 41st home run of the season. Bellinger followed with a 102.9 mph, 410-foot shot to right-center, his 25th.
“It’s just everybody clicking, everybody having good at-bats, not trying to do too much,” Judge said. “Guys just had good at-bat after good at-bat. Bellinger hits the big homer after me, and everybody’s trying to pass the baton.”
Well, I mean, were it only that every game was like this, right?
The offense was dominant (and Cavalli looked REALLY sharp early on, dominating Jazz and Dominguez with the bases loaded and no outs to get out of a jam, so kicking his ass was major) and Fried was dominant.
Can’t beat that combo!
What you CAN beat, however, is Anthony Volpe’s pathetic offense. I guess you just keep trotting him out there to see if he can at least get a hit before you bench him, so that he’s not sitting on the bench thinking about how he can’t get a single hit. As soon as he gets that hit, though, bench his ass and play Caballero.
Featured image is Fried awkwardly accepting the applause from the Yankee fans as he exits the game after seven dominant innings. Fried insists that his turnaround is just about pitching better, but, well, come on, dude. He was amazing, then he had a bad game when he had blisters on his hands. Then they took some time off, and he returned with a new grip designed to avoid blisters (he debuted a new grip PERIOD this season, but this is a NEW new grip), and then was dogshit for a MONTH. And now he’s back to normal? I think it makes a lot more sense that he just got used to the grip instead of him just forgetting how to pitch for a MONTH.
As the Yankees get set to go on the road, do note that the Yankees are one of only four teams in the American League that actually have even a .500 record on the road. Only the Tigers and Astros have a winning record on the road (yes, even the #1 team in the AL right now, the Blue Jays, are only .500 on the road). That’s fucking weird, right? The Red Sox will be one game under after they beat the Orioles on Thursday in Camden Yards.
13 games over 500! Which means since June 29 when they were 48-35 they are a 500 team. Now if they win today it’ll be .500 since June 15.