Harrison Bader chalked up his costly error in the second inning to himself and Aaron Judge converging hard on a fly ball that both felt was theirs to catch, but Bader was a bit shielded when Judge cut in front.
“He’s like nine feet tall,” Bader said.
“That’s just what happens when you have two guys on defense that go really hard every time the ball comes in their vicinity. It was placed perfectly between us. It’s a loud atmosphere, fans want to win, their cheering, and it was just placed perfectly. Guys were calling it to the very end, and both got a little spooked. It’s the nature of the game. It’s unfortunate, but it happens.”
The next batter, Chas McCormick, ripped a two-run home run into the right field seats to give the Astros a 2-0 lead, more than they would need against a lifeless Yankee offense, but the dropped fly ball that seemed destined to end a breezy seven-pitch inning for Gerrit Cole started the unraveling.
“I feel like any ball, I can get to,” Bader said. “It really just comes down to how loud it was. If there’s nobody in the stands, it’s a routine play for me or Judge…just didn’t hear each other.
“It’s just unfortunate, but baseball is a funny game.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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