SAN DIEGO – Aaron Judge went deep again and Juan Soto once again captured the attention of Petco Park, alternately booed and cheered Saturday night.
Aside from Judge’s power show and the electricity created by Soto’s first appearance in San Diego since last December’s blockbuster trade, two pillars contributed to the Yankees’ 4-1 victory.
There was another strong effort from a starting pitcher, with Marcus Stroman shutting out the Padres in six innings.
And there was Anthony Volpe, extending the best hitting streak of his career to 18 consecutive games.
“Frankly, I don’t even think he’s that good right now,” manager Aaron Boone said before Friday’s series opener against the Padres.
At the time, Volpe’s hitting streak was 16 games, and “for a long time, I don’t feel like I’ve been on fire,” Boone said. “He’s just playing at a really high level and we’re seeing him continue to emerge as a really good player.”
Anthony Volpe’s solid arguments to remain as the Yankees’ leadoff hitter
New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe (11) celebrates with New York Yankees third base coach Luis Rojas (67) after hitting a triple in the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Keynote USA Sports”>
And we’ve seen the sooner rather than later arrival of Volpe as the Yankees’ regular leadoff hitter.
“What Volpe has been doing as a leadoff hitter has been incredible. He’s fun to watch,” Judge said, and “he’s still getting better, still getting better.”
DJ LeMahieu was set to fill that leadoff spot until he fouled off his right foot late in spring training and suffered a fracture.
Working his way back into a minor league rehab assignment, LeMahieu is expected to return to the Yankees lineup Tuesday night in Anaheim.
Boone has delayed any public decision on whether LeMahieu could return to the leadoff spot, as previously designed.
However, it seems unlikely that the Yankees (now 20 games over .500 at 37-17) will alter the top of their Volpe-Soto-Judge batting order.
Including Volpe’s single to right field in the seventh inning, “he’s using the whole field,” said Judge, who also referenced Volpe’s six home runs and team-leading 10 stolen bases.
“And he’s one of the best shortstops in the game,” Judge said. “We’re lucky to have him and I’m happy he’s batting ahead of Juan.”
Setting the table for Juan Soto, Aaron Judge
Saturday night began with Volpe lining up Dylan Cease’s first pitch for a single to center.
So he was on board as Judge continued his own streak, now with a home run in four straight games, one game shy of the Yankee captain’s career high, set in 2020.
When presented with the Yankees’ statistic that Judge is the first MLB player in history with at least 12 doubles and 11 home runs in a 20-game span, Alex Verdugo said, “That’s my season.”
Judge’s hit, on an 0-2 curve, was estimated to travel 429 feet between left and center field, his team-leading 17th home run of the year.
Volpe (2 for 5) had led off Friday’s 8-0 win with a triple, and is now batting .333 (26 for 78) during the streak, the longest by a Yankee since the 19-game hitting streak of Derek Jeter. in 2012.
“And what he’s been doing defensively” at shortstop is on par with the second half of last year, when Boone advocated for Volpe to win the Gold Glove, which he did.
Juan Soto conveys his point of view
After striking out on a 1-2 slider by Cease ending the third inning, Soto (0 for 4) became involved in a heated argument with plate umpire and crew chief Bill Miller.
According to Boone, who intervened, the long argument was about Soto’s delay during his only timeout.
“It’s always kind of a gray area,” Boone said, adding that “there’s been a mandate to not let guys take too much time in a given timeout.”
That said, “I certainly didn’t feel like Juan was taking too long. But (Miller) was just enforcing that and trying to explain it, and also give Juan his opinion.”
Soto flied out, struck out twice and grounded out on Saturday after hitting a two-run homer and a double on Friday night, his debut with the Yankees at Petco Park, their 2022-2023 baseball home.
Yankees starters ‘expect each other to be great’
When asked about the great collective effort of the Yankees starters, Alex Verdugo said: “We are at our best.”
After Marcus Stroman’s six shutout innings in Saturday’s 4-1 win, the right-hander said, “Everyone passes the baton to the next guy, and we all hope each other is great.”
Stroman had just followed Carlos Rodón’s six shutout innings on Friday night, giving Yankees starters a collective 11-1 record and a 0.78 ERA in 13 games since May 12.
Plus, “we’re all doing this without the best pitcher in baseball, Gerrit Cole, who we’re all dying to get back,” Stroman said. “It was a fun race.”
Stroman’s best moment Saturday was stranding Jake Cronenworth at third base after a leadoff triple in the fourth inning, retiring Manny Machado and David Peralta on shallow fly balls and striking out Jackson Merrill in a 1-2 game. .
“We know what we’re capable of,” Stroman said, and their collective confidence is “through the roof.”
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