Despite Judge's 2 HRs, Soto's absence looms large for Yanks

NEW YORK -- Juan Soto seemed lost. Unable to swing a bat as he deals with inflammation in his left forearm, the slugger occupied his time with a variety of tasks in the dugout on Saturday evening, refreshing Gerrit Cole’s cup of Gatorade during a television interview and counseling Anthony Volpe ahead of a bases-loaded at-bat.

Nothing against those well-intentioned contributions, but the Yankees cannot wait until they can have the superstar back at home plate. For a second consecutive night, Soto’s absence was felt as the offense scuffled in an 11-3 loss to the Dodgers at Yankee Stadium.

“It’s just a presence, right?” said outfielder Alex Verdugo. “[Soto provides] a good way to see all of a guy’s pitches early on. What Soto does, he drives the ball everywhere, so it’s a big bat out for us right now. But we always know when one guy is down, the next guy has to step up.”

Aaron Judge homered twice to extend his Major League lead to 23, launching solo shots in the third and ninth innings, but the captain’s performance was overshadowed by Teoscar Hernández’s big night.

A familiar foe from his years in the division with the Blue Jays, Hernández homered twice and drove in six runs, connecting for a second-inning blast off Nestor Cortes and an eighth-inning grand slam off Tommy Kahnle.

Kiké Hernández also homered as the Yankees absorbed their third series loss of the season. The Yankees had gone 9-0-1 in 10 series since dropping three of four games in Baltimore at the end of April.

“[Soto is] a huge part of the team, for sure,” said infielder Gleyber Torres. “We’ve missed a couple of opportunities. They’ve been pitching really well; they don’t make many mistakes. Tomorrow is another game and we’ve got to figure it out.”

• Dodgers-Yankees finale: Sunday at 7 ET/4 PT on ESPN

Hernández’s slam came three batters after Torres misplayed a Shohei Ohtani grounder at second base, charged with his 10th error of the season and second in as many nights. Torres accepted responsibility for the grand slam, saying that it was “on me.”

“When Gleyber is at his very best, he plays free and easy,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Sometimes that gets him in a little bit of trouble, but it allows him to make a lot of plays.”

The lopsided contest marked the Yanks’ most runs allowed in a game this season, concluding with utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera making his big league pitching debut.

It was hardly an ideal impression before an audience that included at least four members of the Yankees’ last World Series-winning roster. Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Alex Rodriguez and CC Sabathia were all in the house on Saturday, though much of the noise was made by a large contingent of Dodgers fans.

“They were loud,” Verdugo said. “We had chances to take over the stadium again. If we get that big hit, get those big runs across, we’d give our fans something to cheer about.”

Boone said that he thought Cortes was “all right,” though the left-hander was knocked for four runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 frames -- Cortes’ roughest outing in the Bronx this year, coming after he’d permitted just six runs (five earned) over his first six home starts.

But the more glaring issue was with the bats, reversing the good times of an eight-game winning streak into a 2023 flashback during the hours since Soto visited an MRI tube for a better look at his ailing arm.

New York finished Saturday’s game 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, leaving 10 men on base. Including Friday’s 11-inning loss, they have gone just 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position against Dodgers pitching in the series -- Judge’s 11th-inning knock to score an automatic runner from second base.

“We just haven’t cashed in,” Verdugo said. “That’s what good pitching teams do. They buckle down, and we’re seeing that right now.”

Considering that, the Yanks’ most promising development took place in the trainers’ room, where Soto reported feeling “really good” following another day of treatment. Boone said that Soto “probably” would resume swinging a bat on Sunday, bringing him one step closer to the role in which his team needs him.

“It sounded like he felt a lot better today,” Boone said. “He went through his normal prep stuff and that went pretty well. We’ll see what we have tomorrow.”