Yankees manager Aaron Boone lamented the fact that the roof at Minute Maid Park in Houston was open Thursday night during his team’s 3–2 loss, saying that he thought a deep fly ball hit by Aaron Judge would’ve been a home run had the wind not knocked it down.
“Who would have thought, I think the roof open kind of killed us,” Boone told reporters, per SNY. “I think it’s a 390[-foot] ball. … I didn’t think he smoked it like a no-doubter, but it felt like his homers to right.”
Given the Yankees struggles at the plate in the first two games of the series, many weren’t pleased to see Boone offering up the open roof as an excuse. New York-based radio personality Mike Francesa was particularly incensed by the manager’s postgame comments, pointing out that putting the ball in play more often also would’ve helped the team even the series.
“Yanks sound like losers after the game,” Francesa wrote on Twitter. “Shut up about exit [velocity]. Try hitting the ball.”
Roof open or closed, the Yankees have labored at the plate through the first two ALCS games. New York batters have struck out in 30 of their 70 plate appearances (42.9%) and tallied just nine hits through two games.
As a result, the Yankees find themselves in an 0–2 hole with the series swinging back to the Bronx.
New York won’t have to deal with any sort of roof back at its home ballpark, but Boone and co. will need to try and get back on track in Game 3. First pitch from Yankee Stadium is at 5:07 p.m. ET on Saturday.
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