Yankees rookie slugger Aaron Judge left Tuesday night’s 3-0 win over the Dodgers in the fifth inning after straining his right oblique while batting during the previous half-inning.
The Yankees announced Judge will undergo an MRI exam Wednesday.
Manager Joe Girardi suggested Judge could be done for the season.
“It’s possible,” Girardi said. “Obviously it’s his right rib cage. He’ll have an MRI [Wednesday], so we won’t see him for a while.”
Judge’s injury occurred on a 2-0 changeup on the outside corner of the plate from Julio Urias. Judge fouled it straight back and immediately winced.
“It’s tough to describe,” Judge said, adding he felt “a little pull or something … on the follow-through.”
Girardi went out and checked on Judge, who stayed in the game and drew a walk. The manager yanked Judge after watching him run on a subsequent force out. He did not start the fifth.
“This is the first time I’ve dealt with something like this,” said Judge, who has blasted four homers, but also struck out 42 times in 84 at-bats since his Aug. 13 call-up. “It’s tough. No one wants to deal with an injury. … Especially right now. We’re in a race.”
The injury puts a damper on the Yankees’ outfield rotation, making it harder to find time off for either Jacoby Ellsbury or Brett Gardner.
“I have to talk to [general manager] Brian [Cashman] and see if we have to make a move here,” Girardi said. “There are outfielders [in the system] that are a possibility that we’re going to have to talk about.”
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Tyler Clippard is no stranger to playoff pressure.
He pitched in big games with the Nationals and the Mets before making a return to the Yankees at last month’s trade deadline.
As expected, he has been an old reliable. Clippard, who threw two-thirds of an inning Tuesday, has surrendered just one run in 18 ¹/₃ innings since being acquired, becoming a go-to bullpen weapon.
“He’s used to pitching in these types of situations,” Girardi said. “He’s done it in Washington, in Oakland, in Arizona, and he’s been here before. To me, he’s doing what he does.”
What he does is record outs using a vast array of pitches.
Unlike most relievers, Clippard never changed his repertoire when he made the switch from starter to the bullpen. Instead, he kept all four pitches, and it has made him even more effective.
“You’re never going to out there and have your stuff every single day. It’s a matter of figuring out how to get it done when you don’t feel your best, especially as a reliever,” Clippard said.
The Yankees’ jack-of-all-trades player may have finally found himself a home — in the starting lineup.
After a two-day absence, Rob Refsnyder started in left field and batted second. He went 1-for-4 with an opposite-field single to extend his hitting streak to six games, a personal best. He’s batting .353 with four runs, one RBI and two walks over the stretch.
“He produces, plain and simple,” Girardi said. “He hits, he walks. … He’s not to the point where we feel as comfortable playing him like a [Ben] Zobrist or a Brock Holt, but he does give you some flexibility.”
The combined shutout — CC Sabathia and three relievers — was the 10th of the season for the Yankees.
Gary Sanchez’s 14th homer came in his 38th career game. He is fifth player to reach 14 homers that quickly, joining Wally Joyner, Wally Berger, Mike Jacobs and Albert Pujols.
The Dodgers used four pitchers — starter Julio Urias, relievers Louis Coleman, J.P. Howell and Ross Stripling — to face four consecutive batters — in a stretch covering the fourth and fifth innings.
— Additional reporting by Fred Kerber