DJ LeMahieu shows Yankees why he's 'a Gold Glover' - New York Post

DJ LeMahieu had another outstanding game, with three hits and a walk. He also showed his defensive versatility with fine plays at both third base and first base, after taking over for the Luke Voit, who was hit in the face with a pitch in the fourth inning.

LeMahieu said he’s getting “more and more comfortable” at playing multiple positions.

“He made some special plays at first and a real good play at third,’’ manager Aaron Boone said after the Yankees beat the Rockies 11-5 on Saturday. “Wherever he goes, he plays it like a Gold Glover.”

Aaron Judge was thrown out at the plate by Trevor Story on Edwin Encarnacion’s chopper to shortstop in the first inning Saturday. Judge slid directly into catcher Tony Wolters on the play and Wolters came up limping, but stayed in the game after a visit from the trainer.

Boone replaced Judge with Mike Tauchman after five innings with the Yankees up by nine runs and had no regrets afterward, despite a Rockies rally that made it a four-run game in the sixth.

“We need to protect a 9-0 lead and we’ve got good players sitting over there [on the bench],’’ Boone said. “I thought there was a lot of value in getting him out.”

Boone’s remembrance of his time with Mariano Rivera on the eve of the closer’s entrance into the Hall of Fame included some reality.

“I remember when I got traded here at the deadline in ’03, he went through a stretch where he’d blown a couple saves or had a couple of rough outings,’’ Boone said. “I remember hearing some boos for Mariano. I was like ‘Wow.’ Then he probably went on 2½-month tear after that and was the lights-out closer that he pretty much was his entire career.”

Rivera gave up leads in three of four appearances after Boone made his debut with the Yankees after coming over in a trade from the Reds. He also allowed runs in three of five appearances.
But, as Boone noted, Rivera soon returned to form and converted his final 15 saves that season, holding opponents scoreless in 16 ¹/₃ innings during that stretch.

“He was almost the perfect competitor,’’ Boone said.

J.A. Happ reported no lingering issues after he suffered a cramp in his left calf on Friday night, which is among the reasons the Yankees didn’t option Stephen Tarpley to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre following his three-inning scoreless outing.

“We considered some things,’’ Boone said of whether they thought about sending Tarpley down to the minors, since he’ll be unavailable for a few days and the Yankees entered Saturday without a clear long reliever.

After struggling before the All-Star break, Encarnacion had his third three-RBI game in eight games since the break on Saturday. He has six extra-base hits and 14 RBIs in that stretch.

Cameron Maybin (strained left calf) hit outside for a second straight day. … The Yankees honored the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing with Mike Massimino, a former NASA astronaut, throwing out the first pitch to former Yankees pitcher Jack Aker, who was on the mound in 1969 when the announcement of the landing was made at the old Yankee Stadium.

— Additional reporting by Mollie Walker

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