All month, the Yankees have been waiting for the one big inning to break things open.
They finally got it in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s 11-4 win over the Dodgers in Game 4 of the World Series.
Gleyber Torres provided the big blow with a three-run homer, but before him, Alex Verdugo had the key at-bat: An 11-pitch battle with Brent Honeywell that Verdugo finally won with a ground ball that scored Anthony Volpe from third for an insurance run.
Verdugo fell behind 0-2 before fouling off six pitches and taking two balls before hitting a ground ball to second base.
The infield was playing in, but Volpe got a strong jump from third base that allowed him to score for the 7-4 lead.
“The biggest thing is fighting and going up there and competing,” Verdugo said. “I got down 0-2 and we chased a couple pitches out of the zone, but I was just trying to do everything I could to prolong that at-bat and leave it with a productive out. You get guys on third with less than two outs, you gotta find a way to get that run in.”
The Yankees sent nine men to the plate in the inning and forced Honeywell to throw 50 pitches — a large chunk of them coming to Verdugo.
The five-run inning allowed Aaron Boone to use Tim Mayza to close out the game instead of using Luke Weaver for a seven-out save, which he would have if the Yankees only led by two or three runs.
“I know [Verdugo] probably didn’t put up the numbers in the regular season that he wanted to, but all year, he was talking about, ‘Hey, just get me to the postseason, and I’ll do something special,’” Aaron Judge said. “That’s what we’ve seen this whole postseason. … He fouled off some tough pitches, and then put the ball in play, and something good’s going to happen.”
Boone played around with the idea of batting a scuffling Judge leadoff, but did not want to displace Torres, who has been one of the Yankees’ best hitters this postseason.
So Judge continued to bat third Tuesday with Boone “rolling with what got us here.”
Boone said he has not had any conversations with the team about his contract status, which includes a team option for 2025.
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Before Tuesday’s game, he had little interest in answering when he expects that to happen.
“I have no idea,” Boone said. “Trying to win a game.”
Juan Soto extended his postseason on-base streak to 24 games, which is tied for the fifth-longest in MLB history. Miguel Cabrera holds the record of 31 games.