Access the Yankees beat like never before

Don’t miss Greg Joyce’s text messages from The Bronx and beyond — he’s giving Sports+ subscribers the inside buzz on the Yankees.

The Yankees won a vital game Saturday because Aaron Judge did not play right field.

Cody Bellinger, the Yankees’ Swiss Army genius, made an impeccable throw to nail Bo Bichette trying to score the tying run in the sixth inning — a throw that Judge cannot make right now despite all the cover stories to the contrary.

The Yankees played clean (the Blue Jays didn’t) and received terrific relief work from Luke Weaver, Fernando Cruz and David Bednar to win 3-1. They are within three games of first-place Toronto, yet the first two games of this series have accentuated the delicate nature of critical matters — how much can Judge play right, what can he bring to the position and what will they say or won’t say publicly about it all?

Because the Yankees want you to ignore both your eyes and history when it comes to judging Judge.