The Yankees won the initial battle in this week’s divisional war with the Baltimore Orioles, then breathed a sigh of relief when imaging on Aaron Judge’s plunked left hand came back clean.
Judge exited in the fourth inning of Tuesday’s 4-2 victory in the Bronx, an inning after Baltimore starter Albert Suárez drilled him in the side of the hand with a 94.1-mph fastball.
“Feeling better after I got some good news,” Judge said after the game. “X-rays, CT scans came back negative, so we’re in a good spot.”
After being struck by the up-and-in pitch, Judge grabbed his hand and took several slow steps toward the mound, shooting a look at Suárez as he started to make his way toward first base.
“[I was] definitely pissed,” said Judge, who missed 45 games in 2018 after a hit-by-pitch left him with a broken right wrist. “There were a couple of balls up and in, but that’s part of it. They like to throw in.”
Judge remained in the game and scored on Giancarlo Stanton’s third-inning RBI single, then played defense in center field in the top of the fourth before being replaced by pinch-hitter Trent Grisham in the bottom of the inning.
He said he was still dealing with some swelling but hoped to be back in the lineup Wednesday.
“I wouldn’t say I expect anything to roll over, but I do expect that there’s gonna be a little bit more edge,” left fielder Alex Verdugo said. “Our captain got hit, so just gotta see how it goes.”
Gleyber Torres was also hit in the hand by a Keegan Akin fastball in the fifth inning but stayed in the game. Torres said he felt OK afterward.
“If you know how to throw the ball in, you can go in any time,” right fielder Juan Soto said. “If you don’t have that much control, that’s when things get a little uncomfortable.”
Judge’s early exit briefly cast a shadow over a significant pre-All-Star-break win for the Yankees (51-24), who extended their lead in the American League East over Baltimore (47-25) to 2.5 games.
Yankees starter Nestor Cortes hurled six scoreless innings, limiting baseball’s third-ranked offense to five hits while striking out six. The left-hander did not issue a walk, using a mid-90s fastball and an upper-80s cutter to navigate a Baltimore lineup featuring seven right-handed bats.
Cortes continues to dominate at Yankee Stadium, where he now boasts a 1.57 ERA in eight starts this season compared to a 5.57 mark in eight starts on the road.
The Yankees jumped out to an early advantage Tuesday when Anthony Volpe’s second-inning RBI single put them up 1-0. Stanton’s run-scoring hit to drive in Judge an inning later doubled the lead.
Torres and D.J. LeMahieu added sacrifice flies in the third and fifth innings, respectively.
All of Baltimore’s offense came on a two-run home run by Anthony Santander in the ninth inning against Clay Holmes, who has now allowed four runs over his last two appearances.
First baseman Ben Rice went 1-for-4 in his MLB debut, hours after he was called up to help replace Anthony Rizzo, who is expected to be out for about two months with a fractured right forearm.
Billed as a battle for first place, the three-game set started off much differently than the Yankees’ first series against the Orioles. The Yankees dropped three of four in Baltimore from April 29 to May 2, totaling only six runs in those games.
Judge went 1-for-13 in that series, dropping his season average to .197. He then hit .387 with 20 home runs in his 41 games between the two series against the Orioles and was 1-for-1 before leaving Tuesday’s game.
The Yankees are set to get back one of their top stars for Wednesday night’s middle game, with ace Gerrit Cole scheduled to make his season debut after being diagnosed with inflammation and edema in his right elbow during spring training.
The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner pitched to a 15-4 record, a 2.63 ERA and 222 strikeouts over 209 innings last season.
Rookie left-hander Cade Povich, who is 0-1 with a 4.76 ERA in two starts, is set to start for Baltimore.
