Yankees’ Aaron Judge, Division Series strikeout machine, reacts to Yankee Stadium boo birds

NEW YORK — Friday afternoon’s ALDS Game 2 was tied 2-2 when Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge walked to the plate with nobody on and one out in the seventh inning.

Almost everyone at Yankee Stadium stood, 47,535 strong. There were some MVP chants.

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Maybe this would be the at-bat the American League’s new single-season home run champ finally would hit one out.

Maybe Judge finally would put the ball in play, which would be a first since he hit home run No. 62 10 days ago.

Up for the fourth time, mighty Casey struck out again to rack up a golden sombrero, four strikeouts.

Yankees fans booed. Not everyone, but enough vented that their frustration was heard.

“It’s the Bronx,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the game, which ended up going the way of the Cleveland Guardians, who pulled out a 4-2 win in 10 innings to even the best of five at a game apiece.

How can Yankees fans boo Judge not yet two full games into a postseason series in which their club was leading at the time?

How could they do this after the regular season Judge just had? He almost won the Triple Crowd in addition to setting a home run record.

Judge says that he wasn’t surprised.

“Not at all,” he said. “It happens. It’s happened many times through my career here and there’s nothing I can do. I’ve got to play better. That’s what it comes down to. I didn’t do the job, especially as a leadoff hitter. I’ve got to get on base. I got to make something happen on the basepath and I didn’t do that.”

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Judge had one more at-bat after his fourth strikeout to build some momentum for Game 3, and he did just that grounding out to third base. Putting the ball in play was progress, but his 0-for-5 day left him hitless in eight at-bats for the series with seven strikeouts and a walk with the next two games in Cleveland on Saturday and Sunday.

“This series ain’t over,” Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton said. “(Judge) had 10 or less at-bats. He’s got time and (those two games) are over now, so it doesn’t matter. We’ve got to win two out of three and he’s going to help us do so.”

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Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com.

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