Yanks Swept Away By Houston

Let The Bidding Begin For Judge

By Andrew Rosario

It was a tale of three seasons for the 2022 New York Yankees. The first tale saw them come out and dominate their division with a 64 -28 record at the All- Star break. The second tale saw them struggle mightily in every aspect of their game. At one point after 44 games they were 2 games under .500 at 21-24. Their OPS was 21^st and they tied at 24^th for giving up the most home runs. The pitching staff that clicked on all cylinders in the first half saw the team ERA 27^th in the league. All of this was happening as Aaron Judge was on a quest to set the single American League home run record. The Yankees would punch their ticket in late September clinching the division earning them a first round in the playoff. Judge would Roger Maris, hitting number 61 in Toronto and with games winding down, look to break the record. Judge had been struggling since hitting his 60^th home run going 9-39, 1 hr, 18 walks and 15 strike outs. The Yankees ended their regular season in Texas against the Rangers and Judge failed to reach the seats in his first two games. He faced Rangers starter Jesus Tinoco in the second game of the doubleheader and in his first at-bat, launched an off speed pitch into the left field seat becoming the second Yankee in history to hit 60 or more homes. With that weight off his shoulders, the Bronx Bombers could rest and concentrate on their next opponent. It turned out to be Cleveland Guardians who took out the Tampa Bay Rays in two games.

Winning the division gave the Yankees home field advantage in the best of 5 series. New York took game 1 behind ace Gerrit Cole who went 6.1 innings, 4 hits and striking out 8. First baseman Anthony Rizzo knocked in 2 Runs. The Guardians responded in game two evening the series 4-2 as the Yankees could only manage 5 hits. The series returned to Cleveland for the next two games with the Guardians looking to advance. It looked like that would happen as Cleveland gave them a 2-1 series lead taking game 3 6-5 as the bullpen gave up 3 runs in the ninth inning. Once again the offense was anemic mustering only 5 hits. Cole stepped up in elimination game in the throwing 7 innings, giving up 6 hits and again, striking out 8 taking the series back to the Bronx.

New York wasted no time as Giancarlo Stanton blasted a 3-run homer in the bottom of the first and Cleveland could not respond as their starter did not make it out of the first inning. Yankees starter Nestor “Nasty” Cortez, threw 5 innings of 3 hit ball, giving up only 1 run. The bullpen did the rest as three relievers shut down Cleveland giving up no runs. It set up the American League Champion Series against the hated Houston Astros. The Astros once again showed why they have had the Yankees number over the last couple of years.

The third tale of the New York Yankee season saw them get swept by Houston 4-0. The first two games saw the Bombers struck out an unheard of 30 times. As awesome as Judge was during the regular season, he was just as horrible in the post season. In 16 at-bats in the series, he only managed 1 hit and no home runs. The blame is not solely on Judge as manager Aaron Boone made questionable pitching decisions. Said Boone afterward, “they beat us and we end up second in the American League. We’ve got to keep working to get better.”

The New York Yankees have been stuck on 27 World Series since the last time they won in 2009. There are decisions to be made on General Manager and President Brian Cashman. Boone’s return is not guaranteed. The biggest organization decision is what they will do with free agent Judge. He turned down a major offer vowing he would not negotiate during the year. Judge backed up the move with his historic year. Whether or not the Yankees will pay him, remains to be seen as Judge will talk to teams that include the New York Mets and the San Fransisco Giants.