NEW YORK – Aaron Judge was almost completely avoided by the Mets, determined not to let the Yankees’ game-breaker do his thing Tuesday night.
It turned out to be a winning strategy.
Maybe, it’ll finally begin a league-wide trend.
Judge was walked during his first four plate appearances, only one (officially) intentional, in a 3-2 Mets win at Yankee Stadium.
When they finally did pitch to Judge, with Juan Soto (0-for-4, walk) on first base and one out in the ninth, Judge looked at a called third strike from lefty Jake Diekman.
“It’s part of it, it’s a team game,” Judge said of the free passes. “Even if I go 4-for-4 today, we still might not win. It’s about if I get a pitch to hit, I’ve got to do some damage on it.”
With Mets closer Edwin Diaz unavailable due to his recent workload, the veteran Diekman got ahead with a called strike fastball, and eventually slipped a 2-2 fastball past Judge for the critical second out.
“After four straight balls to Soto, (take) a pitch….and from there go to work,” Judge said of his thought process against Diekman. “Then, he paints one on the (inside) corner there, 2-2.
“It’s a tough one but I’ve got to be ready for it.”
Mets avoid Aaron Judge at nearly every turn
As the majority portion of the 47,453 fans grew more agitated with each wide pitch to Judge, the Mets (52-48) were in the process of winning a third straight game against the Yanks (60-43).
