On Sunday, Aaron Judge had three plate appearances in which he didn’t see a pitch from the Toronto Blue Jays.
After getting intentionally walked three times for the first time in his career, Judge and his New York Yankees will find out Wednesday whether the Los Angeles Angels will handle him the same way.
The teams’ scheduled game on Tuesday was rained out, so the Yankees head into their second doubleheader of the season with seven wins in eight games following a 10-23 skid.
Judge hit his major-league-best 40th and 41st homers in the first two games of a three-game series against Toronto before drawing three intentional free passes on Sunday, when the Yankees earned a 4-3 victory on DJ LeMahieu’s single in the 10th inning. Judge is hitting .485 (16-for-33) with six homers in his past nine games but also has 12 walks, including four intentional free passes in the past two contests.
“You want (Judge) at the plate,” said Juan Soto, who homered on Sunday and is batting .386 (32-for-83) over his past 20 games. “I’m doing my best to put him up and you see them pass him over. It just really makes me mad. I don’t like that. I want them to challenge him and see what he can really do.
“It is what it is. It’s part of the game. They’re trying to win, too, so you respect that.”
The Angels head into their first doubleheader of the year with 12 wins in their past 21 games. Ten of those wins were by three runs or fewer, including the past two over the New York Mets.
After Zach Neto hit a go-ahead three-run homer on Saturday in a 5-4 win, Los Angeles survived committing three errors in a 3-2 victory on Sunday.
Angels relievers Jose Marte, Mike Baumann and Roansy Contreras allowed two hits over four scoreless innings, while Matt Thaiss and Kevin Pillar had sacrifice flies.
“They did a tremendous job,” manager Ron Washington said of his relievers. “Before the game, I stopped all three and asked them if they were ready to finish the game. But it worked out.”
Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon was activated on Tuesday after being out with lower back tightness, and Taylor Ward was placed on the paternity list. The team also announced that infielder Luis Rengifo underwent season-ending right wrist surgery. Rengifo last played on Friday.
Yankees right-hander Luis Gil (11-5, 3.20 ERA), who is 2-0 with a 2.76 ERA in his past three outings, will open the doubleheader. Gil last started on July 29 in Philadelphia, when he allowed three runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings during a 14-4 win.
Gil’s return to his earlier season form is coming after he went 0-4 with a 9.37 ERA in four starts from June 20 to July 7. On May 29, Gil allowed one run on two hits and notched nine strikeouts in eight innings during a 2-1 road win against the Angels.
Los Angeles right-hander Davis Daniel (1-2, 4.91 ERA) will oppose Gil. He has sandwiched two strong outings around two losses.
Daniel began his second major league stint of the season on July 31, when he allowed one run on five hits over five innings in a no-decision vs. the Colorado Rockies.
New York’s Will Warren (0-0, 6.75 ERA) will make his second career start in the nightcap on Wednesday. Warren made his major league debut on July 30 in Philadelphia after Gerrit Cole was scratched, and he allowed four runs on four hits in 5 1/3 innings.
For the Angels in the second game Wednesday, Carson Fulmer (0-2, 3.69 ERA) will make the start. He allowed two runs on three hits in six innings in a no-decision vs. the Rockies on Thursday.
Fulmer’s only previous outing against the Yankees was a scoreless 1 1/3-inning relief appearance for the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 11, 2020.
–Field Level Media