Six years to the date of Derek Jeter’s final night in pinstripes, an evening that produced a triumphant image of the Hall of Famer raising his fists in celebration, Aaron Judge’s clutch hit wasn’t enough to carry The Captain’s former team past his current one.
Judge stroked an eighth-inning RBI single that tied the game, but the Yankees committed their fourth error of the night in a sloppy 10th as the Marlins came away with a 4-3 victory and clinched a postseason berth on Friday evening at Yankee Stadium.
Limited to Aaron Hicks’ two-run double over seven innings by an impressive Sandy Alcantara, the Yankees stirred in the eighth. Yimi García threw away a pickoff attempt and Judge stroked a soft flare into right field that sent Mike Tauchman home with the tying run.
A couple of 2-out doubles from Judge and Hicks ? pic.twitter.com/oZegIvHUYK
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 26, 2020
And @TheJudge44 comes through ? pic.twitter.com/Mms4GQi2io
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 26, 2020
Aroldis Chapman fired a perfect ninth inning but Miami answered in the 10th against Chad Green, a frame that featured a flubbed rundown play in which catcher Kyle Higashioka hit Monte Harrison in the back with a throw. Jesús Aguilar lifted a sacrifice fly that brought home the go-ahead run.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].