Yankees star Aaron Judge was accidentally hit in the face by a throw from teammate Anthony Volpe as they were leaving the field after the fifth inning of Saturday’s 12-6 loss to the New York Mets.
Judge came up to bat in the sixth inning sporting a small bandage near his right eye. Although he had a visible mark around the eye, he said he was okay.
After Mark Vientos lined out to Yankees second baseman Oswald Peraza to end the fifth inning at Citi Field, the New York players began tossing the ball around while heading toward the dugout, a common practice in MLB.
Volpe received the ball and threw a high, arching toss toward Judge, who was jogging in from right field. However, Judge seemed to be looking away, and the ball struck him on the side of his face, knocking off his sunglasses.
“Yeah, it was confusing. At first, I didn’t know what happened,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I just saw something happen. I was concerned because there was a small cut. But in the end, it doesn’t seem serious. Initially, of course, I was very worried.”
The Yankees, struggling this season, suffered their sixth straight loss, matching their worst losing streak of the year.
“It’s been a rough week,” Boone added.
This losing streak ties a previous six-game skid from June 13-18, making it the first time since 2000 that the Yankees have had two six-game losing streaks in one season.
Judge, the team captain, emphasized the need for improvement: “We just have to play better. It’s about fundamentals and making routine plays routine. It’s the little things. Every good team hits some bumps along the way.
“We’ll fix things. We know what we have to do and we’ll get it done.”
