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There’s a lot of series left to go, but the New York Yankees are on the wrong side of the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ momentum after Game One of the 2024 World Series. Aaron Judge spoke with reporters after Freddie Freeman‘s walk-off grand slam, and chose to focus on New York’s opportunity to even the series in Game Two.
“A loss is a loss,” Judge said on October 25. “I think you guys watched our last series vs. Cleveland. Some good back-and-forth games. Gotta learn from it, move on and get ready for the next game tomorrow.”
Judge finished the game 1-for-5 with 3 strikeouts. But nevertheless sounded confident in the Yankees’ chance to level the playing field in Game Two, before heading home for Game’s Three and Four.
“Because we know we’ve got another game tomorrow, I think that’s what it comes down to” Judge said, when asked about New York’s confidence in bouncing back. “As tough as this one is, losing a game, the first one like that, we’ve got another chance to even it up before we head back to the Bronx.”
Game Two will take place on Saturday, October 26, with first pitch scheduled for 8:08 pm EST.
Aaron Judge Defends Nestor Cortes
In the bottom of the 10th inning, with Shohei Ohtani up to bat, Yankees manager Aaron Boone sent Nestor Cortes out to pitch. It was the veteran lefty’s first game action since September 18.
And while he did secure a fly out in his matchup with Ohtani, Cortes would go on to give up the 423-foot grand slam to Freeman after New York opted to intentionally walked Mookie Betts to load the bases.
Judge defended his teammate when speaking with reporters postgame, saying he has faith in anyone in a Yankees uniform.
“I got faith in all our guys,” Judge told reporters on October 25. “It doesn’t matter who it is, any guy that steps up to the mound. He knows he’s got a job to do. Nobody else I want out there on the mound.”
Boone told reporters after the Game One loss that he felt “conviction” in his decision to put Cortes on the mound in the 10th.
“Just liked the matchup,” Boone said on October 25. “The reality is he’s been throwing the ball really well, the last few weeks, as he’s gotten ready for this. I knew with one out there, it’d be tough to double up Shohei (Ohtani), if Tim Hill gets him on the ground. And then Mookie behind him, that’s a tough matchup there. I felt convicted with Nestor in that spot.”
The rest is history, with Freeman’s walk-off grand slam the first of it’s kind in World Series history.
Alex Verdugo on Game One Loss: ‘Take it on the Chin’
Boone and Judge weren’t the only voices heard postgame in the visitor’s clubhouse. Left fielder Alex Verdugo was assertive and confident in New York’s need to take the loss “on the chin.”
“Take it on the chin,” Verdugo said on October 25. “I mean it’s Tough one, right? One out away. At the end of the day we look at the positives. We played that team very well. We saw a lot of their guys. Our pitchers kept a lot of their guys down. At the end of the day it came down to one swing. Let’s chalk it up as that.”
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