Giants Fall Judge Stalled

 

By Andrew Rosario

 

The New York sports landscape was front and center this past Monday night as the New York Giants were featured on national television against their heated rival Dallas Cowboys. Meanwhile, the New York Yankees were in Toronto to face the Blue Jays as Aaron Judge continued to chase history looking for his 61^st home run. Every time Judge came to the plate, his at-bat was broadcast nationally on the MLB network. By the end of the night, the Giants would suffer their first loss of the season and Judge did not tie Roger Maris.

 

The Dallas Cowboys started back-up quarterback Cooper Rush as starter Dak Prescott was coming off right thumb surgery. It was the second straight start for Rush who was guided by a balance offense and a defense that pressured Giants quarterback Daniel Jones all night. The Dallas ground game was solid running backs Tony Pollard (105 yards) and Ezekiel Elliott (73 yards, 1 touchdown) gave Rush enough time to complete 21 passes in 31 attempts for 215 yards and 1 touchdown. 

 

Jones was running for his life the entire night. He finished completing 20 passing in 37 attempts for 196 yards and 1 interception. Jones also ran for 79 yards 2 yards less than running back Saquan Barkley who ran for 81 yards and 1 touchdown. In the 23-16 loss, Jones was sacked 5 times. Elliott became the first Cowboy to Rush for a touchdown in 5 straight games against the Giants.

 

First year head coach Brian Daboll was upbeat after the loss giving credit to Dallas. “Tough game,” he began. “Give credit to Dallas. They made more plays than we made. Get back to work and get ready for Chicago here soon.”

 

When the Yankees started a three games series against the Blue Jays Monday night, they were looking to accomplish two things. A win would bring them closer to clinching the division which would give them a first round bye in the playoffs. The Bronx Bombers were also looking to see if Judge would break his 6-game homerless streak and put him into Yankee history as he would tie Maris for most home runs in a single season. Unfortunately, neither happened in the 3-2, 10 inning loss. Judge was intentionally walked in his last at-bat before going 1-3. With 2 outs in the bottom of the 10, Jays Vladimir Gurrero Jr singled off reliever Clarke Schmidt for the game winning rbi. On his last at-bat resulting in the pass, Judge said, “game on the line, that’s where you want to hit. I trust every single guy in that line-up.”

 

The series resumed Tuesday night with the magic number for New York to clinch the division is two. Judge has 8 games left to tie and break the record. The Giants look to get back on the winning track when they host the Chicago Bears Sunday afternoon. The Bears are 2-1 and are coming off a 23-20 win over the Houston Texans.