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Aaron Judge making final out of Yankees’ 2022 season is pure torture

Thomas Carannante|
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 23: Ryan Pressly #55 of the Houston Astros celebrates the final out of Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees to win game four of the American League Championship Series and advance to the World Series at Yankee Stadium on October 23, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 23: Ryan Pressly #55 of the Houston Astros celebrates the final out of Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees to win game four of the American League Championship Series and advance to the World Series at Yankee Stadium on October 23, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

The New York Yankees’ 2022 season is over. They’ve been swept by the Houston Astros in the ALCS after nearly stealing both games on the road. It’s shocking to even say that, but it truly was the case just a few days ago.

On Sunday night, though, after a 90-minute rain delay that should’ve never happened, the Yankees fell 6-5 to put their fans out of their misery. After jumping out to an early 3-0 lead, it appeared as if they’d avoid the ultimate embarrassment.

Instead, they added to it. Though they notched nine hits and went 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position, manager Aaron Boone waited too long to remove an injured Nestor Cortes from the game, which cost them three runs.

Then, in the top of the seventh, an “infield single” off the bat of Jose Altuve (who appeared to be out but the replay review crew did not overturn the call) began an Astros rally.

With one out, Jonathan Loaisiga got Jeremy Peña to put what seemed to be a tailor-made double play ball on the ground, but Gleyber Torres and Isiah Kiner-Falefa botched it. 6-5, Astros is your final.

Yankees swept out of ALCS after another egregious error in Game 4

Just like in Game 3, one defensive mishap did the Yankees in. After watching this replay a few times, it’s unclear who’s truly at fault. Was Torres’ throw wide? Did IKF take a poor route to the bag? Was it a combination of both?

Does it even matter? Are we here to blame one singular party? Will it even matter if we don’t see Torres and IKF in Yankees uniforms in 2023?

The difference in this series? The Astros capitalized on every Yankees mistake. Every single one. Meanwhile, the Yankees shot themselves in the foot, failed to sustain aggression at any point, and capitalized on nothing outside of Framber Valdez’s error in Game 2.

Uninspiring at-bats. Horrible managing. No willingness to fight. Watching 2004 Red Sox highlights before Game 4. Josh Donaldson doing this, over and over and over:

The Yankees continued to play Donaldson throughout the playoffs despite his detrimental at-bats. They benched IKF for the elimination games in the ALDS. They started him in the one ALCS elimination game. Nobody knows what they’re doing.

To make matters worse, Aaron Judge made the final out of the Yankees season. The worst kind of poetry.

He finished 5-for-36 in the postseason. He notched one hit (1, a single) in the ALCS. His career playoff numbers have dropped to a .216 average and .786 OPS. He’s struck out 66 times in 44 games.

The Astros are celebrating on their turf now. The only hope is the Philadelphia Phillies, but even if they win the World Series, it won’t cure close to enough pain fans are about to experience during an excruciating offseason that could be filled with uneasy change/unfathomable continuity.

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