The New York Yankees secured a 9-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in their series opener on Friday night.
They got a strong outing from veteran right-hander Gerrit Cole, who pitched 6.0 innings, allowed four hits and two earned runs, and struck out six batters to earn his ninth victory of the year.
However, the main storyline came before the game even started, as the Yankees placed superstar Aaron Judge on the 10-day IL with a calf strain, just days after he returned from the 60-day IL following the rib injury that had sidelined him since late May.
How Did Judge Get Hurt?
Judge couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment when he suffered the strain, but the injury occurred during Wednesday afternoon’s game against the Minnesota Twins.
He exited in the sixth inning after feeling something in his calf, but he said postgame that the issue started earlier in the game. Judge attempted to play through it until he decided that he and the team would benefit from taking him out of the game.
Gerrit Cole Shares Reaction to Judge News
After Friday night’s game, reporters asked Cole about Judge’s injury, and he shared an honest reaction to the news. Cole noted that the Yankees have held their own without Judge before and will have to do it again.
“We’re obviously bummed for Aaron and Aaron’d probably bummed too,” Cole said. “But we’ve been in this position before this year. So unfortunately it’s our reality at this point and hey man we cam out here tonight with a good mentality and we played really good baseball and that’s a recipe of success regardless of who’s in the lineup. So Aaron’s a click healer and a hard worker. He’ll be back sooner than later for us, so in his absence we’ll hold the fort.”
After picking up the win against the Diamondbacks, Gerrit Cole tells @M_Marakovits what adjustments he made in between his starts. pic.twitter.com/xS8BNdazfs
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) September 19, 2026
Yankees Right Now
New York is now 89-64 on the season with nine regular-season games remaining. The Yankees sit 4.0 games back of the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East and the No. 1 overall seed in the American League.
If the season ended today, they’d hold the top Wild Card spot and host a best-of-three first-round series at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.
Gerrit Cole Shares Honest Reaction to Unfortunate Aaron Judge News