Judge likely out at least a month with broken wrist suffered in Yankees win The Yankees picked up J.A. Happ to help with their postseason pu...
The Yankees picked up J.A. Happ to help with their postseason push on Thursday. Hours later, they lost Aaron Judge with a chip fracture of the right wrist and they will likely be without their right fielder for at least a month.
Judge was drilled in the right wrist by a 93 mph fastball from Jakob Junis in the first inning of a 7-2 win over the Royals at The Stadium.
Surgery has not been recommended, according to the Yankees, but Judge won’t be able to swing a bat in a game situation for “approximately†three weeks.
“It’s definitely a blow,’’ Aaron Hicks said before the Judge diagnosis was revealed. “You’re looking at a guy that hits 50 home runs for our team. He’s a big part of our lineup. If we do [lose him], we’ve got to continue to figure out a way to win games, continue to keep pushing.â€
Judge, who has never been on the disab led list, will join Gary Sanchez on the shelf. Sanchez is likely out at least another month after aggravating a groin injury.
Judge, who was the DH, initially stayed in the game Thursday. After the hit-by-pitch, he scored on a Giancarlo Stanton sacrifice fly in the first and he reached on an infield single in the third before leaving in the fourth, replaced by Miguel Andujar. After being examined by team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad, Judge got a CT scan and MRI exam at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
“In watching him swing underneath [in the cage], we didn’t feel like the strength was there that he needed,’’ manager Aaron Boone said of Judge, who leads the Yankees with 26 homers, 61 RBIs and a .943 OPS. “We didn’t want to take any more chances with it. As you guys know, [Judge] is as tough as they [come]. We just wanted him to go get it taken care of.â€
Boone added he didn̢۪t think Judge made the injury worse with the second at-bat.
The injury spoiled what had been a good day in The Bronx.
In addition to picking up Happ from Toronto in exchange for Brandon Drury and minor league outfielder Billy McKinney in hopes of stabilizing their rotation, the Yankees got another solid start from Sonny Gray . Coupled with Boston’s loss to the Twins, the Yankees closed to within 4½ games of the Red Sox in the AL East.
Gray threw five scoreless innings, but he was hurt as well.
An Alex Gordon comebacker hit Gray in his right thumb in the fifth inning. Gray also remained in the game after a visit from the training staff and finished the inning â€" pitching around a double to center by Brian Goodwin.
Gray left after five innings and just 75 pitches. He was due to get an X-ray following the game, but was confident he would be able to make his next start.
By the time Gray was replaced by Adam Warren, the Yankees had a 7-0 lead.
They scored twice in the first on Stanton̢۪s sacrifice fly and one of two brutal errors by Kansas City shortstop Adalberto Mondesi and added a run when Austin Romine doubled in Neil Walker in the fourth.
More ugly play from the hapless Royals allowed the Yankees to blow the game open later in the inning.
Andujar, hitting for Judge, hit another easy grounder to short, but Mondesi made an errant throw to first to extend the inning and Didi Gregorius followed by blasting a three-run homer to make it 6-0.
Back-to-back singles by Hicks and Gleyber Torres in the fifth led to another run, as Hicks came home on Greg Bird̢۪s sacrifice fly for the Yankees̢۪ final run.
Zach Britton, acquired Tuesday from the Orioles, made his Yankees debut and tossed a perfect eighth to protect a five-run lead before Chasen Shreve closed it.
Source: Google News US Sports | Netizen 24 United States
