Three Amigos

It would way too easy to call Monday Aaron Judge's night. The Yankees rookie standout had plenty of them in 2017. But that wouldn't be fair to the other standouts in that 8-1 victory in game three of the ALCS. I won't overlook Judge's three-run homer off Will Harris, or his two trendous catches -- the first where he crashed into the wall to stop the Astros' Yuli Guriel, and the other, sliding headfirst to rob Cameron Maybin -- but he's got to share center stage this time around.
Todd Frazier opened the scoring and unleashed that big Bronx crowd with a three-run second inning blast. The Jersey Shore native gave the Yankees a big early lead, one onto which they'd build the rest of the night.

And the beneficiary of Frazier's and Judge's productivity? CC Sabathia. At 37, he's too old, too fragile, too this and too that. Monday night, he was simply too much for the Astros. Dominating at times, crafty at others, he had to escape a couple of jams when he game was still close. And once Frazier gave him breathing room and Judge some big time insurance, the 17 year veteran made his statement. Check the bottom line: his six innings of shutout ball stopped Houston's momentum and put the Yankees back in this series. And how about this significant start (courtesy of MLB Network), in starts after Yankee losses, Sabathia is 10 & 0 this season.