Blue Jays intentionally let Yankees’ Judge walk when no one was on 2nd

NEW YORK — Toronto Blue Jays Team Manager John Schneider has seen enough. Aaron Judge entered the game in the second half on Saturday.

The New York Yankees baseball team‘The unconventional hitter, less than 24 hours after hitting a 477-foot, two-run home run in the first inning Friday night, hit another two-run home run in the first inning Saturday. The hit, from the Blue Jays right-hander Jose Berrioswas Judge’s 41st of the season, leading the league. Schneider decided he wasn’t going to give him a chance in the 42nd. So, with no one on base and two outs, the manager intentionally walked Judge.

Boos rang out in the sweltering heat at Yankee Stadium as fans realized Schneider was signaling for free tickets. More than 40,000 people were in attendance wanting a chance to see Judge perform. Little did they know they had just witnessed a rare event in history.

Judge, 32, became the first player to intentionally walk with the bases empty in the first two innings of a game in the last 50 seasons. And the last time a player intentionally walked with two outs and nobody on base in the first two innings of a game was Aug. 10, 1972. Players: Minnesota Twins Catcher Glenn Borgmann, a .229 hitter with 16 home runs in a nine-year career, walked to reach the pitcher.

This time, Schneider gave Judge, the Yankees’ designated hitter, first base to face the cleanup hitter. Austin Wellswho has been one of the most effective catchers in the major leagues since early June. Accordingly, Wells singled, but Gleyber Torres was disqualified and ended the round — and made Schneider’s strategy work.

“It’s tough,” Judge said. “I always wanted to hit, but Berríos and I, we’ve been going back and forth for years. I had a chance to play with him in the lower leagues. He had my number for a while. So I never hesitated to walk with that guy, that’s for sure.”

Teams have sometimes chosen to pitch around Judge, if not walk him, in recent weeks because he continues to pitch. He was walked four times in two separate games in July — most recently in a one-run loss to New York Mets on July 23. One of the four walks was intentional. The other three, they threw the ball around him.

“Honestly, I don’t want to see him swing. That’s just it,” Schneider told reporters after the game. “I think he’s on a different level than anybody else in the league, where he can turn the script of a game with just one swing.”

More Carlos RodonYankees starting pitcher on Saturday: “He’s the best hitter in the game. He definitely demands a lot of respect.”

However, despite the increasingly cautious opposition from opponents, the judge admitted that he was surprised by Schneider’s decision.

“It was pretty early in the game,” he said. “It was still pretty close. So I guess with the two eliminations there, I think they just wanted to eliminate the next guy. But Wells hit a big shot so hopefully that doesn’t happen again. We’ll see.”

It’s possible that could happen again if Judge continues his current pace. Since April 27, when he began batting .178 with four home runs and a .674 OPS, Judge has a .370 batting average with 37 home runs and a 1.319 OPS in 83 games. His 1.154 OPS on the season — after going 2-for-3 with two walks on Saturday — would be the highest by a qualified hitter in a non-shortened campaign since Barry Bonds’ 1.422 in 2004.

“This is definitely a must-see game at every batting average,” said Rodón.

Judge hasn’t quite reached the AL record of 62 home runs in 2022 — he’s on pace for 59 — but his 41 home runs this season are eight more than anyone else in baseball. He’s the third player in Yankees history to hit 35 home runs in a 75-game span. His 16 first-inning home runs this season are tied for the third-most ever and the most in franchise history with Babe Ruth, who hit 16 in his legendary 1927 season. Judge is just three home runs shy of tying that MLB record.

Indeed, there was no sign of him slowing down. By the second inning on Saturday, Schneider decided it wasn’t even worth trying.

“We’re looking at greatness,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “So you try not to take it for granted, what you’re seeing 99 do. I feel like now, over the years, you hear a lot about Babe, Mantle, Gehrig, DiMaggio, those names are intertwined with a lot of the things he’s doing. So you try to appreciate what we have every now and then.”