New York Yankees star Aaron Judge hit a home run in Tuesday night’s 4-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. He picked up a fastball while at the plate.
As Umpire was about to bat in the third inning at Yankee Stadium, Orioles starter Albert Suarez’s fastball pierced him in the arm. The judge was clearly shaken by the moment, and jumped a bit, snapping his fingers, before he went head first.
Judge stayed in the game and pitched in the top of the fourth inning. At first it seemed as if the injury was completely avoided.
But by the time Judge reached the next plate in the bottom of the inning, the Yankees had pulled him from the game. Instead, Trent Grisham came in to pinch-hit him.
It’s unclear how serious Judge’s injury was, though replays of the win didn’t look great. The umpire seemed to take the ball straight to his left pinky finger at the base of the bat, and seemed to struggle to shake hands with the coaches.
Judge will undergo additional testing at a local hospital Tuesday night and will be evaluated by the team physician, the Yankees announced. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said the move to remove him from the game was a precaution.
“We’re waiting … obviously, [it’s] Not what you want to hear,” Boone said. “It’s scary, but we’ll see. We’ll see what we’ve got when the doctor gets here and examines him.”
By the time Judge was ejected from the game, the Yankees were leading the Orioles 3-0. Judge entered Tuesday night with a .299 batting average with 26 home runs and 64 RBI in 73 games this season, his ninth in the league.
Judge’s injury was the second significant one in recent days for the Yankees. They lost first baseman Anthony Rizzo for at least two months after he broke his hand on a nasty collision in their loss to the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
Despite losing Judge earlier, the Yankees held on for a two-run victory against the Orioles late Tuesday night. WHO Santander hit a two-run homer for the Orioles in the ninth inning after jumping out to a 4-0 lead. However, it was close to them.
The Yankees now have a 51-24 record, good for first in the AL East. The Orioles have lost three of their last five and trail the Yankees by 2.5 games in the division standings.
