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WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Twenty minutes after a ninth-inning Yankees rally that had a Little League feel ended and the Athletics officially failed in their valiant attempt to give the game away, a few hundred fans were bunched up along the right-field foul line.
Aaron Judge was out there signing autographs, some for the many fans who this weekend have been driving 50 miles from a tiny town that used to be known for its cherry trees. Linden now is famous because a three-time American League MVP who captains the Yankees grew up there.
There was one last roar from the autograph-seeking hang-arounds when Judge turned and started jogging out to the opening in the center-field wall. That’s where the visiting clubhouse is in this Triple-A ballpark that the Athletics, starting last year, are using for home games until their new ballpark in Las Vegas is ready in 2027 and their relocation from Oakland is complete.
Sutter Health Park can be a bandbox, and it played that way in Saturday night’s 6-4 Yankees loss, even though Judge just missed tying the game up in the sixth when his two-out, runner-on-first flyball to deep right field was caught at the wall.
That’s the way it’s been going for Judge, who has hit just one of his 17 homers in his last 17 games.
It was bombs away for the Athletics, who ruined an otherwise standout start from Yankees starter Ryan Weathers.
The left-hander often was dominant over his 6 2/3 innings, holding the Athletics to no hard contact for 19 batters in a row at one point.
But three homers accounted for five runs that doomed the Yankees.
Shea Langeliers went deep with a runner on in the first inning to put the Yankees in an early 2-0 hole, Tyler Soderstrom hit a solo shot in the sixth to make it a 3-1 game and the A’s lead swelled to 5-1 in the seventh when Nick Kurtz went deep with a runner on.
“Obviously there were a lot of positives,” Weathers said. “Three swings were the glaring negatives. They really do stink as a pitcher.”
The homers were the story of the night until the Yankees’ ninth inning. That’s when a single and five walks, including three in a row with the bases loaded and two outs, forced in three runs.
Athletics relievers Jack Perkins and Scott Barlow were so wild that the Yankees’ last five hitters swung at just two of the final 28 pitches of the game, which ended with Jazz Chisholm grounding out to first base.
With Perkins on the mound with the Athletics leading 6-1, Ryan McMahon blooped a one-out single to center and J.C. Escarra followed with an eight-pitch walk.
The Yankees were down to their last out when Perkins struck out Anthony Volpe, but Trent Grisham walked on five pitches to load the bases.
That’s when Athletics manager Mark Kotsay went to Barlow to get one out.
It took a while.
The Yankees, who scored their first run on a throwing error, got back in the game when Ben Rice, Judge and Cody Bellinger each drew bases-loaded walks on 3-2 pitches. In those at-bats, the Yankees laid off every pitch except for Judge swinging through a 1-0 slow curve.
Suddenly, there was drama with the Yankees trailing by two runs and Chisholm at the plate. He took a first-pitch strike, two balls that were way off the plate and then a called strike for a 2-2 count.
Forced to swing at anything close, Chisholm got a belt-high fastball that painted the inside corner. Unable to do much with it, he hit a weak grounder to first base, ending the game.
“Just great at-bats to give us a chance there, to not only get the tying run to the plate, but then have the go-ahead runs on base there at the end,” Boone said. “Just a lot of real patience, quality at-bats forcing them to come into the zone. I love the finish. We just couldn’t quite get over the hump there.”
Almost.
“We put up a good fight,” McMahon said. “You can’t win ‘em all, but it was good to at least put some pressure on them, show them that we’re never out of any game.”
Maybe the game turns out different if Judge’s near-homer had gone out.
“I thought he might have got it,” Boone said.
Boone doesn’t often second-guess his decisions, but he regretted not bringing in right-handed reliever Camilo Doval to face a right-handed hitter after Weathers retired the first two batters in the Athletics’ seventh.
“I feel like kind of kicking myself,” Boone said.
Weathers wound up walking Alika Williams, then was left in to face the Athletics’ best hitter because Kurtz is a left-handed hitter.
“I’m going to take my left on left shot there with two outs,” Boone added.
Weathers’ first-pitch fastball hit his spot, inside corner near the top of the zone, but Kurtz homered to dead center, making it 5-1.
“He’s a really good player,” Weathers said of Kurtz, the 2025 AL Rookie of the Year. “I could have spun (a curveball) in there, but hindsight is 20/20.
“I probably should have made a different pitch, or just executed a little bit better.”
Weathers took the loss hard.
While Judge was signing autographs, Weathers sat facing his locker for 20 minutes in full uniform. At one point, reliever Fernando Cruz headed over to show support with a shoulder pat.
“Man, I thought he did great,” McMahon said of Weathers. “I feel like his stat line probably won’t say exactly how he did. Kurtz got him. Kurtz is a really good player. I feel like the pitch he hit out, that’s a really good pitch and sometimes you just have to tip your cap.”
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