Just now:Aaron Judge responds to being booed by..
It’s hard to imagine Yankees fans booing Aaron Judge, but it happened on Saturday.
Judge went 0-for-4 with 4 strikeouts in his Yankees’ 2-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y. Judge swung and missed at 10 pitches, which tied the highest amount of pitches he’s ever whiffed at in a single game during his career.
Apparently Judge doesn’t blame them. When asked after the game about the boos, Judge defended the fans.
“I’ve heard worse and I’d probably do the same thing in their situation,” Judge told reporters.
The 31-year-old Judge is batting .179 through 21 games this season. The good news is Anthony Volpe and Juan Soto have been slugging at the top of the lineup to keep the Yankees offense in business.
Judge’s poor start has some wondering whether the toe he injured last season during a collision at Dodger Stadium is still bothering him.
It didn’t get better for Yankees Stadium fans than the pregame, in which they got to say goodbye to John Sterling. That is because, during the game, they said hello again to the team’s 2022-23 offense.
Just now, playing the part of Aaron Judge trying to carry the team by himself is Juan Soto.
As for Judge, the fans flocked earlier than normal to gain entry to try to land one of his bobblehead dolls. But when Judge struck out in the ninth for the fourth time in four at-bats, he retreated to the dugout to boos, his average down to .179, his whiff percentage over 28 percent.
The Rays won, 2-0, in 10 innings as the Yankee offense not named Soto continued to be befuddled by opposing starting pitchers while offering a lineup overflowing with empty at-bats by players not just named Judge.
The Yankees have won two of their last six games. In the two victories, their offense was timely rather than the anticipated persistent force. They won a finale last Wednesday at Toronto by scoring four of their six runs in the ninth inning. They won the opener at home Friday night against the Rays by scoring all five runs in the seventh inning.
