Yankees: Aaron Boone pulling Aaron Judge started disastrous streak

The Yankees decided they didn’t need to see any more Aaron Judge in the sixth inning of an 8-3 game.

Up 8-0 in the sixth inning of Tuesday night’s game with the red hot and motivated Atlanta Braves, it still seemed safe for the Yankees to feel comfortable. Jordan Montgomery was rolling, after all. Foot off the gas pedal for everyone involved, that type of day.

Then, of course, Montgomery changed the narrative in the sixth inning, allowing the sort of runs you tend to allow in blowouts. Single-hit through the shift-hanger to Marcell Ozuna, and it was 8-3 in a flash.

That’s when Aaron Boone blew the dust off his big book called “Intro to Overmanaging,” and absolutely went to town.

He began by pulling Aaron Judge, shortly after he tattooed an absolute laser beyond the right field ‘pen.

If your sirens weren’t going off there, you’re not human.

Judge remained in the dugout smiling, gesturing, and winking, which only made the charade stranger — was Boone really opening the door to motivate Atlanta to forge a comeback?

This is the same Braves team that cut a 13-1 deficit to 13-8 in the ninth inning in Philadelphia Monday night. It’s also the same Braves team that had already cut an 8-0 deficit to 8-3 by the time Boone made this blind-guy-chucking-darts-like call. Did the scorching hot Judge really need a few innings off after resting Monday, with an off day ahead of him on Thursday?

This move needed a good explanation from Boone for justification, which was inarguably the worst part of the whole endeavor. After all, we’d all rather our manager be incompetent than our mega-star be hurt.

The entire fan base waited with bated breath for the postgame press conference, while also being unfortunately unable to ignore the disaster unfolding on the field, too.

Predictably, Boone tried to steal outs with David Hale. It didn’t work; he let the first two batters of the seventh reach, and a Gleyber-LeMahieu snafu in the middle infield led to 8-4, Ozuna up with the bases loaded. Adam Ottavino somehow entered and escaped.

After a Mike Ford insurance run, Luis Cessa was handed a five-run lead, which lasted for as long as it took me to type that. A Gleyber Torres error and a double later, and it was 9-5. The inning ended 9-6, as Chad Green finally entered, only to watch Torres nearly throw away the third out, too.

Mercifully, Zack Britton finished the ninth against the heart of the Atlanta order on only six pitches, which arguably made less sense than Cessa’s presence in this game.

Postgame, the verdict came in on Judge: Rest! Rest, after a four-game set in Tampa that ended on Sunday. Rest, fter an off-day Monday. Rest, even though he started.

I’m all for managing human bodies coming off a pandemic layoff, but will three innings that keyed a momentum shift really matter in the long run?

It’s hard to believe this is the same Boone with the foresight to rub his lead and ‘pen in Boston’s face a week and a half ago, wielding the hot hand in Nick Nelson as long as he stayed aflame.

This, unfortunately, was stereotypical Yankees; they took it far too easy, using Ottavino, Green, and Britton in a game that was 8-0 entering the back nine. This should be a Jordan Montgomery celebration; instead, we’re left questioning Gleyber Torres’ existence at short, and our fearless leader’s brain.

And it all began with Aaron Judge smiling in the dugout, but not participating in the action.

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