The New York Mets had to stop Aaron Judge from going long if they had to get the upper hand in the Subway Series. It was going to be a two-game series. Both teams were looking to maintain their winning momentum. The New York Yankees won their previous game against the Tampa Bay Rays 9-1. That was a big win, and it was much-needed to save the four-game series. On the other hand, their city rivals came off a victory against the Miami Marlins. However, it was unfortunate for Aaron Boone’s side as the Mets won 3-2 on Tuesday.
But credit surely goes to Jose Quintana for precisely executing the team’s strategies against the Yankees hitters, especially Aaron Judge. The Yankees captain has been in a fine form as he has already hit 35 home runs. He is well on his course to slug over 60 or even more homers this season. Hence, for the Mets, the 2022 AL MVP has been the biggest threat. But they somehow found a way to keep him quiet on Tuesday. Later, the Yankees manager said even before that game some teams have used similar methods against Judge.
Mets Used Shrewd Tactics To Keep Aaron Judge Quiet
Clearly, the Mets planned to give Judge nothing within his arc. At the plate, the 32-year-old slugger faced only a couple of strikes in his first three appearances. As a result, Aaron Judge had to walk more than he wanted to. During the seventh inning, Carlos Mendoza deliberately walked the Yankees captain. Finally, Aaron Judge struck out in the ninth inning. Clearly, the 2022 AL MVP had an off day as he could not really connect with the bat. But credit goes to the clever planning of the city rivals. In the post-game interview on Tuesday, Aaron Boone mentioned that they have seen some team use that approach against their captain. But the more important thing Boone feels is that their middle of the batting order must “Get more settled here.” If they can do it soon, they will see the change in the equation a little bit in the coming days.
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Moreover, the Yankees skipper feels if the middle order gets more settled they can force the opponents to go after Aaron Judge. Boone added, “They can come back to bite teams when they use those tactics.” For the third consecutive game against the Mets, Boone’s side faced a defeat. Moreover, the Yankees fielded an unusual rotation with Jahmai Jones as the leadoff hitter and JD Davis as the cleanup hitter. The Mets knew that other than the Judge-Soto duo, the Bronx Bombers had a weak middle order. They used it to their advantage as they chose to walk Judge at multiple at-bats.
Yankees City Rivals Won Game 1 Despite Going Through Flight Delay
Aaron Judge could not connect his bat against the NY Mets on Tuesday. That cost the Yankees badly. But the Bombers need to find the other guys to chip in when the Judge-Soto duo is unable to click. Anyway, the New York Mets players could not sleep well before the game on Tuesday. They won against the Miami Marlins on Sunday night.
Before reaching the Yankee Stadium, the Mets players had to deal with a 2.5 hours of delayed flight coming from Miami. Some of the Mets players reached home around 7 am. Despite struggling to sleep before the series opener, they managed to maintain their winning streak against the Yankees.
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