Aaron Judge-less Yankees deliver all-around dominant win over Diamondbacks

PHOENIX — Who needs Aaron Judge? The Yankees do, of course, but they began life without him again on Friday night in encouraging fashion.  Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.In a tribute to Judge, who has fueled much of their first-inning damage over the years, the Yankees put up a five spot in the opening frame before Gerrit Cole took care of the rest in an important bounce-back start. Coming into the day having allowed seven home runs over his last two starts, Cole gave up another but limited the damage to just one on the way to the Yankees’ 9-2 win over the Diamondbacks at Chase Field. On a day that began with news of Judge going on the injured list with a right calf strain that very much threatens his availability for the postseason, the Yankees (89-64) inched within four games of the Rays for the division with nine games remaining, while staying 5 ¹/₂ games clear of the Red Sox for the top AL wild card. Barring a Rays collapse, the Yankees will almost certainly be facing the Red Sox in the AL wild-card series, and Aaron Boone said before Friday’s game that he would expect Cole to make a start in that series despite getting roughed up of late.  Sign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+.

Please provide a valid email.By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! Cole then took the mound and backed up that faith, throwing six innings of two-run ball in his penultimate start of the regular season.The runs both came on Corbin Carroll’s two-run shot in the second inning, which came on a 97 mph fastball, the pitch that opponents have hit hard lately against Cole.

And while he still only generated four whiffs on 20 swings against his fastball, he found a way to minimize the damage and get back on t...