Judge v. Schmidt
Judge v. Schmidt
NEW YORK – Yankees star Aaron Judge exited Tuesday night’s game after suffering a pitch to his left hand.
According to the Yankees, Judge was sent for an X-ray and CT scan at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and is expected to be examined by Yankees physician Dr. Christopher Ahmed.
Early in the third inning, Judge took a 94 mph 2-2 fastball off the top of the hand by Baltimore Orioles right-hander Albert Suarez.
In apparent pain, Judge grabbed his left hand with his right, groaning in pain as he slowly made his way to first base.
The Yankees captain would eventually score on a Giancarlo Stanton single during a two-run inning that also saw Ben Rice collect his first big-league hit, a sharp single to right in his second at-bat.
Judge played center field in the top of the fourth inning but was lifted for pinch hitter Trent Gresham in the bottom of the inning, with the Yanks leading 3-0.
Entering this series between the AL East-leading Yankees and the second-place Orioles, 1.5 games behind the Yankees, Judge was on a tremendous stretch — batting .374 with 22 homers and 51 RBI in 46 games since April 27.
After Gleyber Torres was hit in the right hand by Keegan Akin’s pitch in the fifth inning, Yankees starter Nestor Cortes came on and grounded against Orioles star Gunnar Henderson in the sixth, throwing him out of the plate.
The Orioles’ next batter, Anthony Santander, had to avoid a throw on his knees that went past catcher Austin Wells and scored on a passed ball.
Giancarlo Stanton looked to Akin in the sixth inning, after throwing high and tight — adding to the tense atmosphere since Judge’s departure.
Judge, the MLB home run leader with 26, missed 45 collegiate games in 2018, when he was hit by a pitch on July 26 that caused a fractured plate in his right wrist.
Last season, Judge missed 42 games for the team after tearing a ligament in his right big toe after colliding with the outfield wall on June 3 at Dodger Stadium.
It was a rough start to Tuesday for the Yankees, as Anthony Rizzo and pitchers Cody Poteet and Ian Hamilton were placed on the injured list.
Rizzo, who suffered a fracture in his right forearm, will be absent for eight weeks.