Judge adds Coors to HR tally in Yanks' historically rare loss to Rockies

DENVER -- When the final pitch was thrown in the Yankees’ series opener with the Rockies at Coors Field on Friday night, the NBA’s Pacers were trending on social media thanks to their win over the Knicks in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

What many did not expect, though, was that the Rockies would be trending, too.

But there they were, the Rockies -- a team that entered Friday’s contest against the American League East-leading Yankees with a record of 8-42, the worst 50-game start to a season in the Modern Era (since 1900) -- among the most popular topics in the social media world.

That’s because while anything can and does happen in baseball, the result this night was somewhat stunning: a 3-2 Yankees loss to Colorado that surely had sports fans in New York -- already reeling from a playoff defeat that put their Knicks in a 2-0 series hole -- slipping down another rung of dejection.

These things do happen in baseball. But this Yankees loss was rare -- according to the Elias Sports Bureau, it is tied for the second-largest winning percentage disparity in a loss at least 50 games into a season in the Expansion Era (since 1961). The Rockies’ win percentage was .160 entering the game, and the Yankees’ was .612.

On the heels of a sweep of the Rangers in the Bronx and 11 wins in their last 14 games, the Yankees were flying high when they arrived in the Mile High City. But 24 hours later, they had been grounded, their bats going silent around their captain at the most hitter-friendly venue in the Majors.

"I mean, they beat us tonight,” said manager Aaron Boone. “We caught the ball, we made the plays, we gave ourselves a couple of opportunities to score some runs. We didn’t get the big hit tonight.”

Aaron Judge was 2-for-4 with a single and his 17th home run of the season, a solo shot over the left-field wall in the fifth inning that briefly gave New York a 2-1 lead. Judge notched his first long ball at Coors Field after missing the Yankees' 2023 series at the ballpark due to injury. Prior to Friday, Judge's only action at the stadium was in the 2021 All-Star Game.

But outside of that homer, which tied Judge for the Major League lead, and Paul Goldschmidt’s RBI triple in the first inning, the Yanks managed just five singles.

They didn’t have an answer for 27-year-old right-hander Tanner Gordon, who was called up from Triple-A Albuquerque as the Yankees were landing in Denver on Thursday. Gordon, who had a 6.23 ERA in eight starts for Albuquerque and had made one start for Colorado earlier this season, made a spot start in place of the injured Chase Dollander.

"Who, their starter?” asked catcher Austin Wells when he was queried about how Gordon was able to keep the Yankees’ bats at bay. “I think we hit some balls hard at people. I don’t really have anything that stands out. I think we hit balls hard at people and they just didn’t go our way."

One of those hard-hit balls that found Rockies’ gloves came off Wells’ bat in the fourth inning, when with two on and none out, he smashed a one-hop shot with an exit velocity of 101 mph toward second baseman Adael Amador. Amador stayed with a vicious bounce to begin a 4-6-3 double play.

It was Wells at the plate again with the tying run at second base and two outs in the ninth. This time, he hit a soft liner to short to end the game.

Clarke Schmidt started on the mound for the Yankees and labored through 4 2/3 innings, charged with three runs on six hits while walking two and striking out eight. He gave way to reliever Tim Hill in the fifth, but Hill surrendered a go-ahead double to Ryan McMahon.

When asked about losing to a club going through as rough of a time as the Rockies, Schmidt didn’t mince words.

"Anytime you lose, we’re pissed off,” he said. “We’re not trying to go out there and lose ballgames. And I think it shows in here, and the energy in here. Obviously, everybody’s pissed off.

“But you play 162 games. So you’re going to have games like this, you’re going to have nights like this where you don’t perform and you don’t get the job done. But obviously it pisses you off and I’m pissed off right now. So, yeah, it definitely pisses you off.”

In the end, though, it’s one of 162.

“Our focus was good, our conversations were right,” Boone said. “We didn’t get a big hit to break open an inning or whatever. But it’s gonna happen.”