Judge and Volpe lead Yankees to win over Orioles despite Cole's struggles

May 23, 2023

Judge and Volpe lead Yankees to win over Orioles despite Cole's struggles

Just before facing the Orioles, Yankees manager Aaron Boone acknowledged Baltimore's improvement, describing them as a formidable team with a strong offense, defense, running, and pitching. The Orioles proved to be a challenge for Gerrit Cole in the series opener, as all of their runs were charged to him. However, the Yankees managed to secure a 6-5 victory in extra innings.

The comeback was fueled by the impressive performance of Aaron Judge, who hit a game-tying home run off Orioles closer Felix Bautista in the ninth inning. Anthony Volpe also played a crucial role with a walk-off sacrifice fly in the 10th inning, securing the win for the Yankees. Volpe's outstanding leaping catch in the top of the 10th inning prevented the Orioles from scoring.

The scoring began early in the game as Adam Frazier took advantage of two consecutive walks and drove in two runs with a double off Gerrit Cole in the first inning. The Orioles continued to add to their lead with solo home runs from Cedric Mullins and Gunnar Henderson in the third and fourth innings, respectively, while Cole was pitching.

In the sixth inning, the Orioles scored their fifth run on a fielder's choice play. Ron Marinaccio had entered the game at that point, but the run was charged to Cole as he left the game with two runners on base and no outs.

Cole achieved a significant milestone in his career, recording his 2,000th strikeout in the second inning against Jorge Mateo. He joined an exclusive group of pitchers as one of the fastest to reach that milestone in terms of innings pitched and games played.

However, Cole's overall performance was not up to his usual standards. While reaching the milestone, he only struck out the necessary two batters and struggled with control, issuing three walks and allowing six hits and five earned runs on 99 pitches.

Despite Cole's struggles, the Yankees fought back to support him. Harrison Bader hit a solo home run in the fourth inning, and in the fifth inning, Anthony Rizzo contributed an RBI double, DJ LeMahieu had an RBI single, and Bader added a sacrifice fly to tie the game at four.

The Yankees had an opportunity to tie the game in the seventh inning but made a questionable decision to bunt, squandering the chance. With runners on the corners and one out, LeMahieu hit a comebacker to Yennier Cano, who easily fielded the ball and threw out Gleyber Torres, who was attempting to score. This play extinguished the Yankees' hopes of a rally against one of the top relievers in the game.

It was the late-game heroics of Judge and Volpe that saved the Yankees from a frustrating loss. Their contributions allowed the team to stay in the game and now they aim to secure a series win in the upcoming matchup on Wednesday.

The second game of the series will feature Nestor Cortes and Tyler Wells as the starting pitchers. Cortes, a left-hander with a 5.21 ERA this season, is coming off a solid start against the Blue Jays on May 18, where he allowed two earned runs over six innings.

Wells, a right-handed pitcher with a 2.94 ERA, has been having a strong season. However, Judge has had success against Wells in the past, hitting a home run off him on April 9 and two of Judge's record-setting 62 home runs last year on July 22.

On Thursday, Clarke Schmidt will start the series finale for the Yankees, while the Orioles will have veteran Kyle Gibson on the mound.

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