MILWAUKEE — Aaron Judge has carried the Yankees on his back for much of the season, but it’s evident he’s going to need some help to keep them in first place and find some success in the playoffs.
He was held without a home run Saturday night in a 4-1 loss to the Brewers, the eighth time the Yankees have lost in the past 12 games in which Judge went homerless.
The latest defeat dropped their AL East lead over the second-place Blue Jays to 4 ½ games after Toronto’s win over Baltimore. The Blue Jays have won four of their last five.
With Judge at the top of the lineup, the Yankees have tied their hopes to the return of Anthony Rizzo, likely on Sunday, and DJ LeMahieu and Harrison Bader, probably during the upcoming homestand.
The inability of the Yankees to win without Judge’s power is hardly a surprise, considering the lack of production from the rest of the lineup.
Jameson Taillon grimaces after giving up a three-run homer to Willy Adames during the Yankees’ 4-1 loss to the Brewers. N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg
While Judge, the leadoff hitter, reached base twice, he remained at 57 homers, and most of his teammates — including Giancarlo Stanton — struggled again at the plate. Hitting right behind Judge, Stanton struck out in all four of his at-bats and he has whiffed 11 times in his last four games.
The Yankees’ only run came on Josh Donaldson’s homer to lead off the top of the fourth against right-hander Brandon Woodruff, who also struck out 10 in his eight innings.
Woodruff easily outdueled Jameson Taillon, who was roughed up for four runs in five innings, the big blow coming from shortstop Willy Adames, who hit his second three-run homer in as many nights.
The loss dropped the Yankees to 10-22 on the road since July 9, when their once-historic season began taking a turn for the worse. This defeat came a night after the Yankees blew a five-run lead and lost 7-6 to the Brewers. After they left 11 runners on base on Friday, the Yankees stranded a runner at second base in each of the first three innings Saturday.
Adames hit his three-run blast in the bottom of the third to give the Brewers a 3-0 lead.
Josh Donaldson’s solo homer in the fourth inning was the Yankees’ only run. N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg
Donaldson followed by leading off the fourth with his 15th homer of the season, going deep on consecutive nights as well, to make it 3-1.
Miguel Andujar then reached on a two-base throwing error by Adames. The Brewers shortstop came back to make a nice play on Oswaldo Cabrera’s grounder to his left, however, and Andujar ended up stranded at second as Woodruff got out of the inning.
The Yankees fell further behind in the fifth— after they left yet another runner in scoring position in the top of the inning — when Christian Yelich hit a double into the right field corner to score Garrett Mitchell from first base.
With Yelich on third, Adames hit a fly ball to right. Yelich decided not to try to test Judge’s arm and it stayed a three-run game.
Brewers second baseman Kolten Wong forces out Oswald Peraza in the seventh inning of the Yankees’ loss. USA TODAY SportsIt didn’t matter, as the Yankees finished 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position on the night.
“We’re still beat up and banged up,’’ manager Aaron Boone said before the game. “But we’re also excited for the return of some key guys.”
For now, Judge is the only player performing on a consistent basis.
“Aaron Judge is who he is,’’ Boone said after the loss. “Even when he doesn’t do damage on a certain day, he’s always a heavy at-bat.”
Now, the Yankees need some of those from his teammates.
