Inside The Pinstripes

Aaron Judge Sends Stern Message About Yankees Teammate's Costly Mistake

New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge got honest about a mistake his teammate made in a crucial moment on Tuesday.

Grant Young

Sep 22, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge (99) looks towards first base after being forced out a home plate against the Oakland Athletics in the ninth inning at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
Sep 22, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge (99) looks towards first base after being forced out a home plate against the Oakland Athletics in the ninth inning at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
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The New York Yankees suffered a 5-3 defeat to the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday, which keeps the Yankees' magic number to clinch the AL East and secure a first-round bye at 1.

The Yankees appeared poised to tie the game at four in the 7th inning after Juan Soto smacked a single into right field with runners on second and third. While the Yankees' first runner (Alex Verdugo) scored easily, third base coach Luis Rojas elected to hold Gleyber Torres at third.

Yet, Torres — who would have been the tying run — appeared to have already committed too far toward home, and ultimately got caught in a rundown between third base and home plate. He was tagged out and the inning ended with the Yankees still down 4-3.

Torres' overaggressiveness was a mistake because Aaron Judge was about to hit, and the Yankees would certainly prefer a scenario where Judge is up to bat with runners on second and third and down one run.

Alas, the inning ended there, and the Yankees didn't score another run all game.

When Judge was asked about Torres' baserunning mishap after the game, he said, "Yeah, it might have been a little miscommunication. He was hustling the whole way, I think he wanted to score and he got the stop sign. Just kind of no man's land right there," per SNY.

"When it comes down to it, stuff like that can't happen. Can't keep shooting ourselves in the foot with mistakes like that on the basepaths," Judge added. "But it happens, and we've got to move on and get ready for tomorrow."

Torres' baserunning error can be easily forgotten if the Yankees win on Wednesday and clinch AL East supremacy.

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Grant Young

GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

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