If you had said during the regular season that a team would intentionally walk Juan Soto to face Aaron Judge with the bases loaded, you’d think they were taking crazy pills.
Well, the Guardians did just that in their 6-3 loss in Game 2 of the ALCS in a stunning development.
Manager Stephen Vogt later defended the decision to intentionally walk Soto with first base open and load the bases with one out for Judge while trailing, 2-0, in the second inning.
“They were hitting the ball around the ballpark, and we needed to stop the game,” Vogt said. “In that situation, you want to try to get a double-play ball. You want to try to get two outs with one pitch. You want to try to find a way to get out of that inning, and Cade (Smith) did a great job doing that.”
The hope of running into a double play ball didn’t come to fruition, although Judge only hit a sacrifice fly to boost the lead to 3-0 and beleaguered cleanup hitter Austin Wells struck out to end the inning.
Smith, a righty, had replaced starter and fellow right-hander Tanner Bibee, whom Vogt allowed to issue the intentional walk before departing.
It’s possible that until Judge starts looking like his MVP self, although he did tally his first homer of this postseason later in the game, Soto could continue to be walked in big spots.
Judge is hitting just .167 with a .735 OPS this postseason.
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“It’s win or go home,” Judge said of Soto being intentionally walked. “Every out, every inning is important. They’re trying to grab a couple outs there with a double play, but we were able to scratch out a run.”
Soto went 1-for-3 Tuesday, while Judge drove in three runs in a 1-for-3 night.
The Yankees have made quick work of the Guardians thus far to grab a 2-0 series lead and send Clarke Schmidt to the mound Thursday with the series shifting to Cleveland for Game 3.
