Aaron Judge has vowed to dig himself out of the batting slump that has helped leave the New York Yankees in a 2-0 hole in their World Series showdown with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Judge arrived in the Fall Classic as one of the most feared hitters in baseball, fresh from a regular season campaign that saw him blast a league-leading 58 home runs.
But the Yankees captain has failed to unleash his offensive power in the opening two games of the World Series, where the Dodgers have opened up a commanding 2-0 lead heading to game three in New York on Monday.
In Saturday’s 4-2 game two defeat at Dodger Stadium, Judge went hitless in four at bats, striking out swinging three times as he struggled to get to grips with Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
“I’ve definitely got to step up,” Judge said.
“Guys around me are doing their job and getting on base, and I’m failing them in backing them up. We’ve got to turn it around in game three.”
Judge has been repeatedly struck out swinging at pitches outside the strike zone, and acknowledged he will need to be more patient through the remainder of the series.
“At times, you want to try and make things happen, instead of letting the game come to you,” Judge said. “That’s really what it comes down to.
“If you’re not going to get a pitch in the zone, you’ve just got to take your walks.”
The Yankees suffered a shattering loss in game one on Friday, with Dodgers first-baseman Freddie Freeman blasting a walk-off grand slam in extra innings to deny the Bronx Bombers what would have been a precious series-opening victory on the road.
Judge denied that the team were still suffering a hangover from that defeat in game two on Saturday, where the Dodgers dominated through eight innings before eventually snuffing out a late New York rally in the ninth.
“Guys were locked in the whole game even though we weren’t getting much going,” Judge said. “You saw in the ninth inning. It doesn’t matter what happened the night before.
“But we’ve got to show up big time in game three in the Bronx.”
Judge is hoping the Yankees’ famously boisterous home support will help haul the team back into the best-of-seven series.
“We’ve got the best fans in baseball — they’re gonna be loud, they’re gonna be rowdy and they’re gonna have our back all game.
“I’m excited to get back to New York. It’s a seven-game series for a reason and we’ve got the group of players here to battle a storm and end up where we want to.”