Earlier in the week, it was the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo taking in the U.S. Open with their wives, and Saturday night, outfielder Juan Soto and utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera watched Daniil Medvedev defeat Flavio Cobolli at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Soto posed for a photo with Cobolli on the court before the match — which Medvedev won 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 — began, too, and the pair were pictured in a suite once it began.
Soto, taking in perhaps his only U.S. Open as a Yankee with his free agency sweepstakes set to begin following the 2024 season, donned a Dad Gang hat and a No. 22 chain, while Cabrera wore a white shirt.
The pair traveled to Queens after the Yankees fell to the Cardinals, 6-5, earlier on Saturday in The Bronx, with Cabrera getting called out on a costly pitch-clock violation in the ninth inning.
He took a ball to make the count full, but after stepping out of the box, readjusting his batting gloves and taking a practice swing, home plate umpire Ben May determined that Cabrera — making just his second-career start at third base that day — hadn’t returned to the batter’s box and become engaged with Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley before the eight-second mark on the pitch clock.
“I thought that I was in time,” Cabrera said postgame, “and I don’t know if I was or not, but at the same time, it’s my fault. So I have to get better in that situation because [those are] the rules.”
He finished the game 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, while Soto went 1-for-5 with two strikeouts — and he gave the Yankees some life in the ninth inning by sending a double down the right-field line with two outs.
The Yankees and Cardinals will finish their three-game series Sunday, while action will continue in the Round of 16 in Flushing — with an all-American showdown of No. 3 Coco Gauff, the defending champion, and No. 13 Emma Navarro serving as one of the marquee matches for the day.
No. 12-seed Taylor Fritz and No. 20-seed Frances Tiafoe, two of the top American players remaining, will have a chance to reach the quarterfinals in the men’s draw with victories, too.