A night after playing hero against the Mets, Aaron Judge had an early exit in the Subway Series finale.
The Yankees center fielder was removed from Sunday’s 7-6 loss to the Mets in the third inning after experiencing dizziness.
“I took him out of the game, so yeah, it was concerning,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I just spoke with him, he’s doing pretty good. Hopefully he will be in a good spot for tomorrow.”
Judge was paid a visit by a trainer and Boone during his at-bat in the first inning after appearing uncomfortable and stepping out of the box. Following a lengthy talk and receiving eyedrops, he resumed the at-bat and struck out swinging.
After striking out looking in the top of the third — on a Carlos Carrasco pitch that did appear to miss the zone — Judge was replaced by Brett Gardner in the bottom of the inning.
“Right after the first pitch of his first at-bat, he just got a little bit dizzy and it lasted for a little bit,” Boone said.
Gardner went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, including one with runners on first and second in the ninth inning.
On Saturday, Judge had crushed a pair of homers to help lift the Yankees to an 8-7 win. He has been the Yankees’ best hitter all season, entering Sunday batting .294 with 32 home runs, 89 RBIs and a 150 OPS-plus.
Before Sunday, Judge had reached base safely in 28 of his last 33 games, batting .341 with a 1.055 OPS, eight doubles, 10 home runs, 28 RBIs, 16 walks and four stolen bases during that stretch.
Besides his consistent production, Judge has also been consistently available. Sunday marked his 129th game of the season, which was second on the team behind only DJ LeMahieu. It was already the most games he had played since 2017, before multiple injuries had sidelined him in each of the next three seasons.