“Buddy is lucky Aaron Judge didn’t punch!” - Fans weigh in on Yankees captain's heated staredown vs. Red Sox’s Justin Slaten after hit by pitch

New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge almost had a confrontation with Boston Red Sox reliever Justin Slaten after being hit by a pitch in the winner-takes-all Game 3 of the AL Wild Card series on Thursday.

The Yankees scored four runs off Red Sox starter Connelly Early in the fourth inning, leading to his early exit from the game. With two runners on base, Slaten was sent to the mound to face Aaron Judge.

However, on his first pitch of the game, Slaten struck the two-time MVP on the wrist. The Red Sox reliever had a brief staredown with Judge before the Yankees captain walked to first base.

Fans reacted to Slaten getting into a staredown with the AL MVP front-runner.

"Buddy is lucky Judge didn't punch his head clean off, instant decapitation."

"Slaten pooped his pants a little bit as Judge walked towards him."

"Clearly intentional.. maybe from tipping pitches last night. Judge was 4 for 4 against him too."

"One day I wanna see judge just bulldoze through a pitcher and then carry on like he normally does."

"Judge destroying a Redsox pitcher would have brought back some real nostalgia 🥰"

Following the hit-by-pitch on Judge, Slaten escaped the fourth inning unscathed despite the bases being loaded. The Yankees captain had gone 4-for-4 the previous night in a 4-3 win for the Brin Bombers to force a Game 3.

Yankees advance to ALDS clash against the Blue Jays after Cam Schlittler shuts down Red Sox

While the Yankees hitters chased away Connelly Early in the fourth inning, Yankees rookie Cam Schlittler pitched an eight-inning gem to shut out the Red Sox.

Schlittler threw a career-high 12 strikeouts, the most by a rookie in a do-or-die game in the postseason, while allowing five hits without walking any batter.

His historic outing helped the Yankees to a 4-0 win, eliminating the AL East rivals from the postseason and setting up an ALDS matchup against the Toronto Blue Jays.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash