Aaron Judge goes 4-for-4, but Yankees can't hold lead in loss to Guardians
Yankees starting pitcher Will Warren walks to the dugout after being removed from the game during the sixth inning against the Cleveland Guardians Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Cleveland. Credit: AP/David Dermer
CLEVELAND – It all looked so good for Will Warren and the Yankees … until suddenly it didn’t.
Warren, coming off a nightmarish 1 2/3-inning outing last Thursday in Tampa, took a two-run lead into Tuesday night’s sixth inning, having retired 10 straight.
But Guardians leadoff man Steven Kwan ended that streak with a leadoff single and the Yankees soon after quickly disintegrated in a hailstorm of missed pitches, missed defensive opportunities and timely hits by Cleveland.
The bizarre inning, a better fit for some of the classic back-and-forth postseason games these franchises have played over the years, led to a hard-to-swallow 3-2 loss to the Guardians in front of 21,546 at Progressive Field.
“They just put some balls in play that we couldn’t quite make a great play on, and that was the difference that inning,” Aaron Boone said.
The Yankees (14-10), after taking three of four against the Rays to start a seven-game trip, have dropped the first two games of this series against the Guardians (14-9), the team they beat in five games in last year’s ALCS.
The wild sixth inning, one that saw Cleveland send nine to the plate, overshadowed a 4-for-4 night by Aaron Judge, which included a double and a stolen base, that raised his batting average to .411 and OPS to 1.231. Judge singled against righty Hunter Gaddis leading off the eighth and stole second with one out after a Cody Bellinger flyout. Paul Goldschmidt struck out and Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked when Gaddis committed a clock violation before throwing a full-count pitch. Anthony Volpe struck out swinging at a slider out of the zone to strand two.
Cade Smith, who closed out Monday’s game instead of struggling closer Emmanuel Clase, retired the Yankees on just four pitches in the ninth.
“That’s what makes this team so tough,” Judge said of the Guardians. “Up and down that whole lineup is tough at-bats. They’re going to put the ball in play. There in the sixth, they just put the ball in play, made something happen.”
Kwan started it with a single. Nolan Jones singled, and Boone brought in Mark Leiter Jr. to face Jose Ramirez. Ramirez went down on three pitches, the last two nasty splitters. With Kyle Manzardo up, Kwan and Jones took off on a double steal and Leiter’s delivery skipped past catcher J.C. Escarra for a wild pitch (initially scored a passed ball). Kwan scored and Jones went to third.
Manzardo then hit a sinking liner toward Judge in right. Judge charged and made a diving attempt but could not make the catch. The ball deflected past him for an RBI double that tied it 2-2.
“I got about two steps away and saw all I could do was try and knock it down at that point,” Judge said. “It’s kind of a do-or-die play.”
Carlos Santana grounded to second and Bo Naylor walked. Angel Martinez followed by scorching one to Volpe at short. The spinning ball banged off Volpe’s chest on the short hop and he couldn’t get the ball across the diamond in time. The infield single scored Manzardo to give the Guardians a 3-2 lead.
“An impossible play,” Boone said because of the heavy spin on the ball.
Said Volpe: “I feel like I gotta make that play. Our pitchers are nasty. They’re throwing really good stuff and guys have been swinging really weird off it, so it’s one of those hump-back line drives right at you, it’s hard to gauge how hard it’s hit. You just try to keep it in front and make a play but obviously I didn’t.”
The Yankees’ night couldn’t have started much better as Ben Rice, back in the lineup after leaving Saturday’s game in Tampa with a left elbow contusion, hit Tanner Bibee’s first pitch out for his sixth homer. Chisholm’s sacrifice fly in the sixth scored Judge, who had doubled, to make it 2-0.
Warren allowed two runs, three hits and a walk over five innings in which he struck out five in a fine bounce-back effort.
“Any time they put nine lefties in there, it’s going to be a challenge for sure,” Warren said. “I actually told [Marcus] Stroman, ‘Two years ago my self would be extremely happy with how the night went.’ Because lefties used to be my Kryptonite. Now I have the confidence to go out there with whoever they put in the lineup.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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