It has reached the point — and it probably reached this point a few years back — when there is legitimate surprise when Aaron Judge records an out.
Judge had another outstanding day, homering on the first pitch he saw Saturday and adding a hard-hit single that boosted his video-game numbers to a .432 average and .520 on-base percentage.
But it is impossible for anyone to succeed every at-bat, which the Yankees were reminded of in the eighth inning of a 3-2 loss to the Rays in The Bronx.
After Tampa Bay had taken the lead in the top of the inning, singles from Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger put runners on the corners with two outs.
Rays manager Kevin Cash turned to righty Edwin Uceta to face Judge, a situation in which plenty of other teams might have given Judge the open base and taken their chances against Ben Rice.
“You know how the Rays are going to attack,” manager Aaron Boone said. “They’re not going to [intentionally walk hitters] very often.”
Uceta threw Judge two changeups, the second of which he grounded to shortstop.
“He’s truly special, and obviously you can’t get the job done every single time,” Bellinger said. “Ultimately hit the ball hard, just right at them.”
After a 2-for-4 day that raised his easily MLB-best OPS to 1.312, Judge has homered in three of his past four games and four of his past six.
His dinger off Zack Littell was his 71st career homer in the first inning, tied with Derek Jeter for the fourth most in franchise history behind Babe Ruth (126), Mickey Mantle (103) and Lou Gehrig (84).
Jazz Chisholm Jr. said he was “very surprised” in learning he has a high-grade strain in his right oblique.
According to Chisholm, he has three different tears in the oblique.
The Yankees have said the second baseman likely will miss 4-6 weeks.
“That’s where we’re trying to get to, if not before,” Chisholm said.
The Rays went 6-for-6 in stolen-base attempts off Yankees pitching and Austin Wells.
In the game-deciding eighth, Chandler Simpson (maybe MLB’s fastest player) swiped second before teaming with Brandon Lowe to pull off a double-steal.
They came around to score the tying and go-ahead runs.
“They definitely ran a lot today and got good jumps,” Wells said. “They gave themselves opportunities to get in scoring position, and that’s their game.”
DJ LeMahieu resumed his minor league rehab assignment Friday after it was paused so he could receive a cortisone shot in his hip Tuesday.
LeMahieu went 0-for-3 with a walk with Double-A Somerset.
“Report was good,” Boone said of LeMahieu, who will need an unclear number of additional rehab games before becoming an option.
After throwing his first bullpen session Friday since hitting the injured list, Marcus Stroman (left knee inflammation) was being monitored before the Yankees decided his next step.
“Still just kind of getting through his throwing program,” Boone said of Stroman, who had injections in the knee. “We’ll see how he is today.”
