Jazz Chisholm Jr. is putting the yawning drama to rest.
A day after the Fox broadcast showed Chisholm yawning on defense during Game 3 of the ALDS, the Yankees second baseman addressed the situation with a light-hearted response.
“I yawn all day long!” Chisholm wrote Wednesday on social media. “Day and night so say what you want.”
The yawn garnered viral attention on social media because moments earlier, the Toronto Blue Jays had scored on an RBI bloop single by Daulton Varsho that a sliding Cody Bellinger was unable to catch in left field.
Davis Schneider scored from second base after center fielder Trent Grisham threw the ball to Chisholm rather than to home plate.
Schneider held up at third before scurrying home, which Chisholm didn’t initially see. By the time Chisholm turned around and threw home, it was too late.
Varsho was not credited with an RBI, as the officer scorer ruled Schneider scored on the throw to second.
“I wasn’t frustrated with it,” Chisholm said afterward, adding, “If Belli catches that, that’s a double play. So in any way, I would say the runner got a little bit lucky in that type of play, because Bellinger normally makes that play a lot.”
Ultimately, Chisholm proved to be one of the heroes in the Yankees’ 9-6 win in Game 3.
After trailing by as many as five runs, Aaron Judge drilled a three-run home run off the left-field foul pole to tie the score, 6-6, in the fourth inning. Chisholm then broke the tie with a solo home in the fifth, and that held up as the game-winner.
“Jazz, he was having good at-bats all game,” Judge said. “I talked to him. I don’t think he had a hit yet, but I was just talking to him: ‘Hey, man, you’re having great at-bats. Stay right there, stay aggressive. You got two more big ones.’ Once he sends that one in the seats, it’s like, all right, let’s try to add on.”
It was the first home run of the postseason for Chisholm, who also scored the winning run from first base on an Austin Wells single in last week’s Wild Card Game 2 over the Boston Red Sox.
“That’s what Jazz is capable of,” manager Aaron Boone said of Tuesday night’s homer. “He changes the game in a lot of different ways.”
JUDGING JUDGE
Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez don’t vote for American League MVP, but if they did, they’d cast their ballots for Judge.
The former Yankees stars said they believe Judge should win over Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh but acknowledged the race is close.
“You take [Judge] off that Yankee team, we’ve seen it,” Jeter, who preceded Judge as the Yankees’ captain, said during Fox’s studio coverage of the MLB playoffs. “Even stretches where he doesn’t hit, they don’t win. It’s tough. I’m glad I don’t have a vote.”
Judge led MLB hitters with a .331 average, a .457 on-base percentage, a .688 slugging percentage and a 1.144 OPS to go with 53 home runs and 114 RBI.
Raleigh led the majors with 60 home runs — setting single-season records for a switch-hitter and a primary catcher.
“Look, .331, 53, 114 again from Judge. He’s like on another planet,” said Rodriguez, who won three MVPs, including two with the Yankees. “I just wish Cal Raleigh had another year against a different guy, because nine out of 10 years, he would be the MVP.”
David Ortiz, who is also part of the Fox panel, sided with Raleigh, saying what he accomplished was “almost impossible” for a catcher.
