Aaron Judge sets MLB record with fourth, four-strikeout playoff game

NEW YORK — It didn't matter that Aaron Judge hit 62 home runs during the season. The ruthless crowd at Yankee Stadium will boo anybody if it believes they are underperforming. And on Friday during the Yankees' 4-2 loss to Cleveland in Game 2 of the ALDS, Judge became the target.

As he walked back to the dugout in the seventh inning after striking out for the fourth time on Friday, Yankees fans booed Judge, who is now 0-for-8 with seven strikeouts through the first two games of the ALDS. With his fourth strikeout on Friday, Judge tallied his fourth four-strikeout playoff game, the most of any player in MLB history.

«There's nothing I can do. I got to play better,» Judge said. «That's what it comes down to. Didn't do the job tonight.»

Throughout the game, Cleveland's pitchers targeted Judge with breaking balls down and away on the outer half of the plate. When Judge received pitches he could hit in the middle of the strike zone, he swung late, a consistent theme throughout the first two games against Cleveland.

«The timing's a little off, you're going to be swinging at pitches you don't normally swing at, and the ones you can hit, you're just a tick late or tick out in front a little bit,» Judge said. «Just work on that timing and I think it'll be good to go.»

Yankees manager Aaron Boone credited the Guardians pitching staff for its success against Judge.

«A lot of the day, they executed against him,» Boone said. «The couple pitches he's gotten to hit, he's fouled off. I think a lot of today was a product of execution by them and this being just a challenging day picking up spin, things like that.»

When asked if Cleveland had a specific game plan on attacking Judge, Guardians manager Terry Francona kept his mouth shut.

«I