“Trying to gift the series to the Yankees” - MLB fans react as Guardians in-field blunders allow Yanks to score while dropping Aaron Judge’s catch

Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees started Game 2 of the ALCS against the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. The Bronx Bombers were coming off a 5-2 victory in the opening game of the series.

In the first inning, Judge hit a popup off Guardians pitcher Tanner Bibee with Juan Soto on first base and Gleyber Torres on second. Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio tracked the ball across the field but missed the catch, resulting in a fielding error.

[Highlight] The Guardians defense drops an Aaron Judge infield pop fly and allow a run to score in Game 2 byu/Flowkeh inbaseball

This allowed Torres to score, giving the Yankees a one-run lead early in the game. Several fans reacted to the error, sharing their thoughts on Reddit.

“Between that and all the passed balls yesterday, the Guardians seem to be trying to gift the series to the Yankees,” a fan said.

Comment byu/Flowkeh from discussion inbaseball

“We might just watch a team lose a series because of the aura of the Yankees,” another fan said.

“A Judgian pop fly,” another fan wrote.

Many other reactions continued:

“God, Judge is so clutch and the baseball world just can't take it,” a comment reads.

“Tanner Bibees facial reaction is everything,” another comment reads.

“Am I watching the Guardians or the White Sox?” someone wrote.

The NY Yankees ended Tuesday’s game with a 6-3 victory over the Cleveland Guardians. The Yankees pitching staff allowed only eight hits with eight walks while striking out seven batters.

Yankees captain Aaron Judge homered in their 6-3 victory over Guardians

In the second inning, Alex Verdugo hit a double, followed by Aaron Judge’s sacrifice fly, giving the Yankees a 3-0 lead. In the sixth inning, Anthony Rizzo hit a double, bringing in another run for the team.

Judge then hit a 414-foot home run in the seventh inning, scoring two more runs for the Yankees. Discussing the performance, Judge said (via NY Post):

"I was excited it went out. You never know on these windy, chilly nights what that ball is going to do when you hit it to center here, but the ghosts were pulling out there to Monument Park, that's for sure."

The New York Yankees are now up 2-0 in the best-of-seven ALCS against the Cleveland Guardians. The teams will face each other again in Game 3 of the series on Thursday at Progressive Field.