Why Guardians intentionally moved Juan Soto to Aaron Judge

If you said during the regular season that a team would intentionally walk Juan Soto with the bases full against Aaron Judge, you'd think they'd be taking crazy pills.

Well, that's exactly what the Guardians did in their 6-3 loss in Game 2 of the ALCS – a stunning development.

Manager Stephen Vogt later defended the decision to intentionally walk Soto with first base open and load the bases with one out for Judge while trailing 2-0 in the second inning.

“They hit the ball all around the stadium and we had to stop the game,” Vogt said. “In this situation, you want to try to get double-play ball. You want to try to get two outs with one pitch. You want to try to find a way to get out of that inning and Cade (Smith) did a great job of that.”

The hope of running into a double play didn't materialize, although Judge hit just a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 3-0 and beleaguered cleanup hitter Austin Wells struck out to end the inning .

Smith, a right-hander, had replaced starter and fellow right-hander Tanner Bibee, whom Vogt allowed to issue the intentional walk before his departure.

It's possible that until Judge starts looking like his MVP self, Soto will continue to be seen in big pitches, even if he hit his first home run of this postseason later in the game.

Judge is hitting just .167 with an OPS of .735 this postseason.

Follow the Post's coverage of the Yankees in the postseason:

“It’s either win or go home,” the judge said of Soto’s deliberate walk. “Every out, every inning is important. They try to get a couple outs there with a double play, but we were able to get a run out.”

Soto went 1-for-3 on Tuesday, while Judge drove in three runs on a 1-3 night.

The Yankees have quickly defeated the Guardians so far, securing a 2-0 series lead and sending Clarke Schmidt to the mound on Thursday as the series shifts to Cleveland for Game 3.