Judge defends Grisham after ‘We want Soto’ chant
-
Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
NEW YORK — Trent Grisham was in the New York Yankees‘ lineup for their Sunday night showdown against the Los Angeles Dodgers because Juan Soto remained out with forearm inflammation. He was batting fifth, despite an .083 batting average, because manager Aaron Boone wanted a left-handed bat in the middle of the order and valued Grisham’s ability to punish fastballs with the hard-throwing Tyler Glasnow on the mound.
Yankees fans didn’t care for any of that, making their thoughts clear in the sixth inning with a pointed “We want Soto!” chant during Grisham’s third plate appearance. Moments later, Grisham flipped those feelings, launching a fastball from Glasnow into the right-field seats for a go-ahead, three-run home run.
In response, some fans reversed course the next time Grisham stepped into the batter’s box with a different, tongue-in-cheek chant: “We want Grisham!”
But Yankees captain Aaron Judge said he wasn’t a fan of the initial treatment of Grisham and defended his teammate after New York’s 6-4 win.
“I wasn’t too happy with it,” Judge said. “But I think he made a good point, got his point across there with that homer.”
Grisham said it “wasn’t about” sending a message with that home run, though he admitted he liked the chant he heard in the following at-bat.
The home run, which proved the difference in the Yankees avoiding a three-game sweep, was Grisham’s fifth hit of the season. Three have been home runs. The 27-year-old center fielder now is batting .100 with a .538 OPS in 25 games as the Yankees’ fourth outfielder. He’s started just 18 of the club’s 67 games. This weekend was just the second time he’s started three consecutive games this season.
“He’s just been a really good teammate through all this,” Boone said. “Been ready. He’s accepted his role and here he’s got a little bit of an opportunity this week and taking advantage of it.”
The reduced role has been a steep transition for Grisham, who spent the previous four seasons as the San Diego Padres‘ everyday center fielder before the Yankees acquired him and Soto together in a trade in December.
“Just riding and being patient throughout the process and then just knowing that there’s going to be spurts like this in the season where I’m going to be able to play a few days in a row,” Grisham said.
Whether Grisham plays four days in a row depends on Soto’s availability Monday against the Kansas City Royals. Boone said Soto went through his typical pregame routine Sunday, taking swings for the first time since being diagnosed with forearm inflammation Friday. But Soto, according to Boone, “probably” wasn’t an option to come off the bench.
Soto’s status Monday will depend on how the arm feels. The Yankees will welcome the MVP candidate with open arms whenever he’s ready. On Sunday, though, Grisham stepped up after drowning out the noise.
“Soto’s going to heal up and be fine, but, man, Grish is a heck of a ballplayer,” Judge said. “He showed up tonight in the big moment when we needed him.”
-
Greg Wyshynski
RALEIGH — Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said his players have to be smarter about retaliating against the Florida Panthers‘ trademark agitation.
“We know that’s how they do things,” he said on Wednesday, after Florida took a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals with a 5-2 win. “Find a way not to let that get to you. Stick to what is going to win us games.”
At issue for the Hurricanes in Game 1 was center Sebastian Aho‘s roughing penalty against Florida’s Anton Lundell at 6:59 of the first period, which negated a Carolina power play and led to Carter Verhaeghe scoring the first goal of the game on a Panthers’ power play. Aho took a swing at Lundell after the Panthers center cross-checked him. The referees whistled the retaliation but not the initial stickwork that provoked it.
“I mean, the first penalty is bad call, right? You’re going to have those. But that’s my thing: Retaliation penalties are not going to get it done,” Brind’Amour said. “We did a pretty good job with [retaliation], but it just takes one. That’s my point. You can’t have that one, because that really puts you behind the game and now it’s different.”
The Hurricanes are 5-0 when scoring first in the playoffs and 3-3 when they don’t. Carolina’s penalty kill had stopped 14 of 15 power plays at home and 28 of 30 overall in the playoffs until Game 1, when Florida went 2-for-3 with the man advantage.
“They made us pay. It’s a good team that knows how to score goals and finds way to win games when you make mistakes,” Carolina captain Jordan Staal said. “We’ve got to limit those mistakes.”
Another example of the Hurricanes’ retaliation, though a less costly one for Carolina, came in the third period when defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere deliberately shot a puck at Florida forward Brad Marchand. In this case, the Panthers got the worst of it, as Marchand was given a double minor for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct.
“Just heated. I was pretty pissed off. He tried to take a run at me. I shot the puck at him. We had a little [tussle],” Gostisbehere said.
After Game 1, neither Panthers players nor coach Paul Maurice would discuss the incident in detail.
“It happens. It’s what it is. I mean, we block shots all the time, so what’s the difference?” Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said.
That attitude extends to the Panthers’ composure on the ice. While the Panthers have earned their reputation as an irritating, physical opponent — attributes that helped them win the Stanley Cup for the first time last season — they can dish it out and take it.
Look no further than the Florida crease in Game 1, where the Hurricanes crashed the net of goalie Sergei Bobrovsky with frequency. At one point, forward Andrei Svechnikov‘s hip collided with Bobrovsky’s head. But the goalie wasn’t knocked off his game and his team didn’t retaliate.
“It’s OK. It’s the playoffs. They try to get under the skin. I just focus on my things and try not to think about that,” Bobrovsky said after his Game 1 win.
Maurice praised his netminder’s composure.
“Sergei’s not a kid. He’s been through it. He’s been bumped. He’s just developed a skill set that it just doesn’t bother him,” the coach said. “No one likes getting elbowed in the head, but it won’t be the first time or the last time.”
Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals is Thursday night in Raleigh. The Hurricanes have now lost 13 straight games in that round of the playoffs, including five straight to the Panthers.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway