The New York Yankees are happy that Aaron Judge is gradually getting back to form. He had a very slow start to the current season. It was quite unlike the 2022 AL MVP. He took seven games to hit his first home run of the 2024 season. There were doubts about his fitness. Previously, the Bronx Bomber’s captain had a freak accident at the Los Angeles Dodger’s fence. In the process, he hurt his toe really badly. Later, it turned out that the captain suffered a torn ligament. As a result, he missed 35 games on the trot.
In the absence of the 2022 AL MVP, the Yankees messed up the season. They could not make the postseason last year. Early in 2024, during the spring training, Aaron Judge had an abs injury. Due to this injury, he missed several Grapefruit League games. Perhaps that’s the reason why the Yankees captain took time to get into his groove. Moreover, his return to form is a great boost for his team. The Yankees had been on a seven-game winning streak. But the Seattle Mariners ended that streak due to a sudden bad game by Clay Holmes.
Aaron Judge Backs The Yankees Closer
In Game 1 facing off against the Seattle Mariners, the Yankees were cruising to their eighth win in a row. Moreover, in the eighth innings, the Bronx Bombers were leading 4-1. Marcus Stroman had done a great job on Monday with his longest pitching game for the NY side. He threw eight innings & allowed only one run. Later, the home fans gave the Long Island native a standing ovation. However, the great efforts of Stroman went in vain when Clay Holmes came to pitch in the ninth inning. Prior to Monday’s game, Holmes had been enjoying a great streak as a closer this season. However, in Game 1 against the Mariners, he just had the most humiliating game of the season.
Holmes gave away four runs as the Seattle side came back to win the game 5-4. It was a massively disappointing performance from the closer, who had been so good until that day. Later, Aaron Judge spoke about Holmes in the post-game interview, saying, “Holmes is one of the best closers in the game, and bad days like that can happen for anybody.” Moreover, the 2022 AL MVP mentioned that a loss is a loss. Nobody wants that kind of a day or a loss, says Judge. However, as a team, the captain believes they will look to make things right the next day.
Clay Holmes Accepts The Blame For The Game
Despite Aaron Judge backing the closer, saying, it is not completely his fault, Holmes accepts it was not his day. He owned up to his errors and mentioned that his pitches did not go as per his plans. In the post-game interview, Clay Holmes said, “It’s on me.” Moreover, Holmes said it felt like one of those days where his stuff wasn’t there. He may have tried too hard to chase with two guys there.
Adding to that, Holmes said that some balls just found the holes. Clearly, things did not go his and the team’s way. But Holmes feels really bad about not being able to get two big outs. He had put two guys on base. Hence, he feels he could have had them. Before the awful day against the Mariners, Holmes was enjoying a streak of 15 2/3 scoreless innings. That came to an end, too.
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