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Guardians deliberately load bases for struggling Aaron Judge
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Guardians deliberately load bases for struggling Aaron Judge

Juan Soto was walked intentionally, loading the bases for Aaron Judge.

Yep, that just happened.

The Yankees started the second inning of Tuesday night’s Game 2 of the ALCS against the Guardians in The Bronx with three hits.


Aaron Judge hits a sacrifice fly off Cade Smith to give the Yankees an early 3-0 lead over the Guardians in Game 2 of the ALCS.
Aaron Judge hits a sacrifice fly off Cade Smith to give the Yankees an early 3-0 lead over the Guardians in Game 2 of the ALCS. AP

The first two came with two singles by Anthony Volpe and Anthony Rizzo, followed by an RBI double by Alex Verdugo, which gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

Gleyber Torres, the next batter, popped out to create a second and third and one out situation.

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, realizing how important this Game 2 was for Cleveland and seeing that it could be in danger of getting away from Cleveland, decided to first walk out a hot Soto to face the struggling righty.

Vogt followed that up by pulling his ace Tanner Bibbee in favor of one of his high-leverage relievers, the flame-throwing Cade Smith, to face Judge.

With the bases loaded and one out, Judge hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0, Yankee, but he didn’t hit a game-changing blast.

Hereafter, Smith surrendered to strike out the next batter, Austin Wells, leaving the Guardians with just two runs out of the second inning, keeping the damage to a minimum.


Juan Soto reacts after being walked intentionally in the second inning, creating a bases-loaded, one-out situation for Aaron Judge, who hit a sacrifice fly to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead in Game 2 of the ALCS.
Juan Soto reacts after being walked intentionally in the second inning, creating a bases-loaded, one-out situation for Aaron Judge, who hit a sacrifice fly to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead in Game 2 of the ALCS. Getty Images

Vogt explained his decision to withdraw Bibbee during an in-game interview.

“It was time to get Cade and stop it,” Vogt told TBS reporter Lauren Jbara. “Hopefully we get a foul.”

Judge hit a pop-up in the first inning with runners on first and third base, but it was dropped by shortstop Brayan Rocchio, giving the Yankees an early 1-0 lead.

The Guardians were still held scoreless, but Smith retired the Yankees in order to keep Cleveland in it in the following third inning.