CINCINNATI — There were many reasons to walk aaron judge in the tenth inning of the Yankees’ game against the Reds on Saturday afternoon. Judge is the best hitter on the planet and first base was open.
Both Judge and Rizzo managed to lead the Yankees to a 7-4 win in 10 innings before a sellout crowd of 41,374 at Great American Ball Park.
Greg Allen, acquired by the Yankees in a trade the day before, was placed as a runner on second in the 10th. He advanced to third on Gleyber Torres’s flyout and scored on Judge’s single.
“With Gleyber getting the better of him, it was just a matter of me getting a pitch,” Judge said. “I went up there a little bit aggressive. I put him in play there to get him in there and set up Rizz to do the real damage.”
Rizzo did exactly that. He followed it up with his second two-run home run, both off Ian Gibaut, in as many days and his 24th home run at Great American Ball Park, second-highest as a road player (Ryan Braun, 28). Not to be outdone, Judge went 4-for-4 with three RBIs on the day. Judge and Rizzo each homered on Friday night 6-2 win.
As the No. 2 and No. 3 hitters, Judge and Rizzo have led the Yankees, who have won five of six and 10 of 14 to bring their record to 28-20.
Judge outshines Rizzo at times with his larger-than-life feats, but Judge never gets over his teammate.
“He could start in a lot of different places,” Judge said when asked what Rizzo means to the team. “What he does in the clubhouse. He’s a leader. He motivates guys. He lifts guys up. Then what he does on the field. He’s a great first baseman. Clutch hit after clutch hit.”
“He’s a big part of this team. That’s why he fits right in the middle of this order. He’s been right in the middle of some of our biggest wins.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Rizzo: “He’s been our rock. He’s been rock solid to start the year. He’s been that constant. When Judgie missed those 10, 11 days or whatever, Anthony was right in the middle of things. He gets hit by the power. He’s one of our leaders. It’s been huge.”
Neither Rizzo nor Judge expected the Reds to give Judge tickets away.
“I went in there expecting to hit, (and) get some help from Rizz,” Judge said.
“I thought it was possible,” Boone said. “You’re also one strike away from catching him. You’ve got a heavy one on deck. You’re potentially putting the second run on base. As good as Judge is, you have a chance to strike him out there. He wasn’t surprised.”
Starter Jhony Brito was four innings and allowed four runs and four hits. He walked four and struck out six. The walks hurt him: Two of the runs he allowed were scored by batters he walked.
The Reds took a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI single by Jake Fraley, who is now riding a 10-game on-base streak.
Judge tied the game with a two-out 354-foot RBI single in the third. Yeah, a 354-foot single. The ball came off the bat at 115.1 mph, hitting the base of the left wall so quickly that Judge had no chance to move to second.
Brito walked with the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the inning before Spencer Steer scored a run on an infield single.
“I tried to be too good in that inning,” Brito said.
Brito had more trouble with two outs in the fourth. José Barrero hit an infield single. Luke Maile followed up with his third home run of the year to give the Reds a 4-1 lead.
But New York quickly tied it up in the fifth. With one out, Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit his second home run of the year. Ben Rortvedt and Torres followed with singles, and Judge quickly doubled on Rortvedt. That was it for Reds starter Luke Weaver. Alex Young took over and gave up a single to Rizzo. Torres scored to tie it, but Judge was thrown out at home on the play.
The Yankees went hitless in the last four innings of regulation before their bats caught fire again in extras to clinch the series win.
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