It wasn’t a perfect game in the traditional sense of just 27 opposing batters coming to the plate and none reaching, but in terms of Yankees execution, it was near perfection. The bats chained hits and arrived with runners in scoring position. The pitching was crisp and tight, with closed innings and well-timed double plays. The defense was on point and stole a few outs. Well played game; 10/10 would recommend the Yankees play like this all the time.
And when the dust settled and the final was recorded, the 2022 New York Yankees were the American League East champions. It’s only their second division title in the last decade of play, but it’s also their 20th in franchise history. More importantly, he also earned a first-round bye in MLB’s new playoff format; New York will face the winner of the AL Wild Card series between champion AL Central Cleveland Guardians and the Wild Card team that finishes with the worst record.
Tonight started with a first home run – just what everyone wanted, right? Aaron Judge started the baseball game working his 136th full count of the season (LOL) before heading to third base, robbing the baseball world of the 61st home run record. Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres fell in order and the top of the former was over in the blink of an eye.
Jameson Taillon wasn’t so lucky in the bottom half. A misplaced fastball from Taillon to George Springer ended up over the center field wall to make it 1-0, Jays, on Springer’s 24th dinger of the season. The baseball gods are cruel. We all wanted a first home run and they gave us one. Taillon recovered, sniffing Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. with a dirty devil, and sent him to second as a one-point game.
After Kyle Higashioka led the third with a single to center field, Judge came home with one out, in his second chance of the night to tie Roger Maris’ 61-year-old record. Once again, the judge worked the full count. This time his patience paid off and he walked on two skates.
Then Rizzo did exactly what the Yankee Bats have to do when the judge gets walked in front of them: make the opponents pay. Rizzo hit a hard ground ball through the offset right side of the Jays infield. Higgy scored easily and equalized the match. Then the incandescent Torres fended off one in the middle, easily tagging the judge from third. Unfortunately, Josh Donaldson and Giancarlo Stanton followed with whiffs. But when the dust settled, the Yankees had a 2-1 lead and worked Berríos to escape the frame.
I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that Jamo did exactly what a starting pitcher should do after his team gives him a few runs: put a zero in the run column. He worked around a first single late in the third to retire the next three Jays he faced, including Springer and Guerrero. Stop sleeves, y’all. They are cared for; the knees of the bee, even.
The start of the fifth inning brought everyone’s favorite baseball center fielder back to the plate, looking for history for the third time in the game. Coming off the frame, Judge worked the full count (again), then took a fastball from Berríos just wide of the plate for his second walk of the night and his 103rd of the season.
Rizzo followed that up by dipping a shallow fly ball into right center field no-man’s land to put the runners in the first and second rows with no one coming out. Torres kept the line moving with another RBI single, his second of the night. Rizzo, with the game right in front of him all the way, TOOTBLAN fought his way into the first out of the inning at third.
Torres moved to second-and-third on an error by Bo Bichette, but after a Stanton strikeout and Oswaldo Cabrera pulled out, the Yankees had to settle for a run and a 3-1 lead. . But that was already twice the night the opposing pitcher walked Judge, and twice the bats brought the big man to score.
After a seven-pitch frame from Taillon, the Aaron Judge Watch continued in sixth. After back-to-back doubles by Higgy and Aaron Hicks brought the Yankees lead to three, Jays manager John Schneider came out to make a pitching change.
Enter Zach Pop, a right-handed reliever to take on Judge. Different pitcher, same result; The judge worked the full count, then walked on the eighth pitch of the appearance, his third free pass of the night. After Rizzo lined up on a rocket, Torres again found runners in scoring position and was again successful. The resurgent second baseman hit a ground fly through the vacant right side of the infield, scoring Hicks. That made it 5-1 for the Yankees and three RBIs on the night for Torres.
Another zero was not in sight for Jamo, but a combination of excellent defensive awareness from the Yankees and Toronto’s TOOTBLANing reduced what could have been a huge inning for the Jays to a one-run outing. With one out and Springer first, Bichette threw a fly ball into right center field space. The judge, on his horse, cut the ball and quickly relayed the ball to Isiah Kiner-Falefa covering the second. When Bichette momentarily disengaged from the bag, IKF stuck the tag for the second out of the frame.
Vladdy then smoked a ball to left field but hesitated as she stepped out of the box thinking she was gone. Hicks returned a frozen rope in second and nailed Guerrero trying to stretch his shot into a double. The run scored, but the inning was over – a trade the Yankees gladly made.
After a quick inning from Taillon in the seventh – honestly, the Blue Jays took their bats like they were double parked – we got the fifth installment of the watch for 61. With Higgy on board after his third hit. at night, the judge came to home plate to face former Yankee David Phelps. For the fifth time that night, Judge worked the full count, and for the fourth time in a row he took his bye.
Taillon came out for the eighth, but after sandwiching two singles around a well-hit steal to left field, Aaron Boone came out to relieve his starter with the tying run at home plate in the form of George Springer and a single withdrawal. Lou Trivino was tasked with escaping the inning, and he did the job in a pinch:
A location. Two withdrawals. End of round.
Trivino returned to the mound late in the ninth to try and close this one. Two quick outs ensued, although Alejandro Kirk’s single prevented the clean inning. Baffled, Trivino induced a harmless ground ball from Matt Chapman to close this one and clinch the AL East crown.
Huge win, honestly, and congratulations to the 2022 Yankees! No one wanted the division title to linger several more days. The judge didn’t hit number 61 tonight, but his bats were a tour de force in the discipline of approach and plate. If he stays locked up like this, surely the dingers should follow.
Maybe they will follow tomorrow, in the rubber game of this set. Speaking of which, the first pitch is at 7:07 p.m. ET, with Gerrit Cole on the bump against Mitch White. Cole will chase the Yankees single-season strikeout record and needs four to tie Ron Guidry at 248.
The score of the box
