The New York Yankees (30-20) dropped the first game of their nine-game road trip, falling 3-2 to the historically awful Colorado Rockies (9-42) on Friday night at Coors Field.
Aaron Judge continued his torrid pace at the plate, launching his 17th home run of the season in the fifth inning, a solo shot in his first regular-season game in Denver. He finished 2-for-4 and boosted his league-leading average to .398. Paul Goldschmidt had a two-out RBI triple in the first inning, but the Yankees couldn’t capitalize on their other opportunities, going 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and failing to record a hit over their final 14 at-bats.
Clarke Schmidt was in control early and carried a 2-1 lead into the fifth, but after allowing a pair of two-out singles, manager Aaron Boone turned to Tim Hill, who surrendered a two-run double off the wall to Ryan McMahon, the decisive blow of the night.
The Yankees look to bounce back Saturday as Max Fried (6-0, 1.29 ERA) takes the mound against Rockies lefty Kyle Freeland (0-6, 5.68 ERA), with first pitch set for 4:10 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].