Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees, Paige Bueckers from the UConn Huskies, and Rafael Devers of the Boston Red Sox were all part of a thrilling, recording breaking week in the sports world. Judge, the Yankees, and Bueckers set records that will never be forgotten. And Devers. His record is something he would like to forget.
Add to that Tyler O’Neill of the Baltimore Orioles extending his Major League Baseball record by hitting a home run on Opening Day for the sixth season in a row. And the incredible comeback performance by Alysa Liu who became the first American women’s figure skating world champion in nearly two decades and you had a sports week that had something for everyone.
Aaron Judge and Yankees Overpower the Brewers
Judge and the Yankees played home run derby yesterday at Yankee Stadium at the expense of former Yankee Nestor Cortes and the rest of the shell-shocked Milwaukee Brewers pitching staff. The Yankees hit a total of nine dingers in the game setting a club record. They fell just short of the major league record of 10 set by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1987.
They started their record-setting performance yesterday with a literal bang. Paul Goldschmidt led off the first inning hitting Cortes’ first pitch 413 feet into the Brewers’ bullpen in left field. On the very next pitch, Cody Bellinger sent a fastball into the right-field bleachers.
And on Cortes’ third pitch of the game, Judge drove a cutter 468 feet into the left field second deck. This was the first time a team homered on its first three pitches since Major League Baseball starting tracking pitch counts in 1988.
Austin Wells would add another New York homer later in the inning and Anthony Volpe would a add a three-run shot in the second. Judge would go on to hit two more dingers in the fourth including a grand slam which would push the Yankees lead to 12-3.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed Judge with a solo shot of his own. Pinch-hitter Oswald Peraza would end the Bronx Bomber tirade in the seventh with a two-run blast against Chad Patrick which all led to a stunning 20-9 Yankees victory. And the Bombers weren’t done having fun yet.
They launched another four home runs in Sunday’s 12-3 shellacking of the Brewers. The Yankees’ tied the 2006 Tigers for the most homers (15) in a club’s first three games of a season. And Judge with a two-run blast in the first became the franchise’s first player to hit four homers in the club’s first three games. Ony Adrian González (five) with the Dodgers in 2015 had hit more in any franchise’s first three games.
Paige Bueckers Boosts UConn to the Elite Eight
Paige Bueckers added to her storied college career leading UConn to a berth in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Elite Eight with a dominating win over Oklahoma 82-59. She finished the game with a career high and UConn record 40 points, single-handedly outscoring the Sooners in the second half.
The Huskies’ 23-point margin of victory is the fourth largest by a team in NCAA tournament history after trailing at the halftime, and the second largest in the Sweet 16 or later. All of this after being chastised by coach Geno Auriemma at halftime over some defensive mistakes in the first half. About her and her teammates play in the first half, Bueckers said.
“They had a great first half, and we didn’t make a lot of shots, but we dug down defensively, stuck to our defense, and I think that’s what we want to just hang our hat on, is defense winning games.”
And Paige did it in her usual efficient fashion shooting 16-for-27 from the floor. including 6-8 from beyond the arc. She also finished the game with six rebounds. Ashlynn Sade added 12 points coming off the bench and Sarah Strong hauled down 11 rebounds for UConn. Guard Payton Verhulst paced Oklahoma with 16 points, 13 of those coming in the second quarter.
Monday night’s game is against #1 seed USC which knocked off #5 seed Kansas State on Saturday. UConn will be playing in its 29th Elite Eight, and its 18th in the past 19 seasons.
Rafael Devers Earns Dubious Distinction
Poor Rafael Devers of the Boston Red Sox has had a rough spring. Unseated from his third base position by newly acquired Alex Bergman, he now finds himself mired in a historic hitting slump. With his two strikeouts today in Boston’s 3-2 loss to the Texas Rangers, Devers has now struck out 12 times in team’s first four games of the season setting a major league record.
This follows his performance from yesterday when he became the first big leaguer to strike out 10 times in the first three games of the season. Devers surpassed Brent Rooker of the Athletics, Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr., Minnesota’s Byron Buxton, and Houston’s Brett Wallace in 2013 to set the four-game record.
For the season, Devers is 0-16 with a walk. When the Red Sox signed Bregman to a three-year, $120 million deal, Devers was vocal about his preference to stay at third base, the position where he has played throughout the entirety of his career. However, the Red Sox opted to go with Bregman over Devers, because of the former Astros Gold Glove winner’s defensive prowess at the hot corner.
Devers, Boston’s full-time DH, has been having trouble related to his timing and inability to catch up to the fastball. Manager Alex Cora hopes that a slight alteration in his footwork at the plate will correct the issues. He said about the situation.
That’s something that we have noticed. Without going too deep into it, if you’re not grounded, you’re not going to be on time. Obviously, we know Raffy needs to get on the fastball. How we’re going to get there is the question.”
Still to Come
What an incredible week of record-breaking sports moments. My next article will be about Alysa Liu’s miraculous win at the Women’s Figure Skating World Championship. If you get a chance, view a recording of her performance. It’s truly a magical moment.
