MLB Capsules: Yankees’ Aaron Judge slugs two homers to take MLB lead
NEW YORK – Yankees manager Joe Girardi recently compared Aaron Judge to Derek Jeter, noting their similar demeanor on and off the field.
In the batter’s box, Babe Ruth might be more like it.
Judge hit two more home runs after destroying a flat-screen television with a long drive during batting practice, and Brett Gardner also went deep twice to power the New York Yankees past the Toronto Blue Jays 11-5 on Tuesday night.
“It’s been extremely impressive,” Girardi said about Judge’s all-around game. “He’s just been a complete player.”
Injury substitute Aaron Hicks added a two-run homer, and Masahiro Tanaka (4-1) pitched into the seventh inning to win his fourth straight start.
Matt Holliday had three hits, including an early RBI double, as the Yankees jumped out to a 7-0 lead against Mat Latos and won for the 15th time in 20 games.
Before the game, Judge showed off his prodigious power with a shot to center field that smashed a TV in one of Yankee Stadium’s new social gathering areas beyond the bullpens and Monument Park in center field.
“They were wearing me out about that,” Judge said. “They said they were going to take it out of my check.”
Judge, the 6-foot-7 mountain of a rookie, took over the major league lead with his 12th home run, a three-run shot to left field on the 10th pitch of his at-bat in the seventh.
Last season, Judge batted .179 in the big leagues and struck out in half of his 84 at-bats.
It was the second time in five games that Judge connected twice. He also drew two walks and has five homers in his last five games.
RED SOX 5, ORIOLES 2
BOSTON – Adam Jones received extended applause from Fenway Park fans a night after he was racially taunted, both teams were warned after Boston ace Chris Sale threw behind Manny Machado’s legs in the first inning and the Red Sox went on to beat the Baltimore Orioles.
Machado homered out of Fenway Park for the second straight night, a seventh-inning drive, and the Orioles turned an usual triple play in the eighth inning on a popup to short left field.
Before the game Jones received an apology from Red Sox president Sam Kennedy on behalf of the club. Many fans stood during a lengthy round of applause in the first inning, and Sale stepped off the mound to extend the reception.
But one batter later the game turned testy when Sale’s first pitch to Machado went to the backstop. Emotions have been elevated since Machado injured Red Sox star Dustin Pedroia on a slide April 21 at Baltimore. Pedroia missed the next three games.
Hanley Ramirez homered twice, Mookie Betts hit a two-run double and Sale struck out 11 over eight innings.
Sale (2-2) allowed two runs and three hits, and Craig Kimbrel got three straight outs for his AL-leading ninth save in 10 chances.
Orioles starter Alec Asher (1-1) gave up three runs and six hits in six inning.
ASTROS 8, RANGERS 7
HOUSTON – Marwin Gonzalez hit two home runs, including a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning that rallied Houston over Texas.
Gonzalez hit a towering fly off Keone Kela (0-1) for his first career slam and a 7-5 lead. Gonzalez stood near the plate, seeing if the ball would be fair, before tossing his bat toward the dugout and beginning his trot.
Jose Altuve hit a two-run homer in the fourth and Gonzalez hit a solo homer in the fifth.
Delino DeShields, Joey Gallo and Elvis Andrus hit solo homers and Jonathan Lucroy had a two-run shot as the Rangers built a 5-0 lead. Nomar Mazara hit a two-run homer in the ninth off Luke Gregerson.
James Hoyt (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings. Will Harris earned his first save.
Alex Claudio made his first career start. He pitched in place of Cole Hamels, who was scratched after experiencing tightness in his right oblique while warming up.
DIAMONDBACKS 6, NATIONALS 3
WASHINGTON – Jake Lamb and Chris Herrmann homered off Tanner Roark, and Arizona bounced back from an early deficit to beat high-scoring Washington.
Erratic starter Taijuan Walker and four relievers combined to blank the potent Washington offense over the final six innings after the Nationals bolted to a 3-1 lead.
T.J. McFarland (1-0) got four straight outs, J.J. Hoover and Jorge De La Rosa each pitched an inning and Fernando Rodney worked a perfect ninth for his seventh save.
Roark (3-1) struck out eight over six innings for the Nationals.
CUBS 8, PHILLIES 3
CHICAGO – Javier Baez came within a double of the cycle with four hits and three RBIs, Kyle Schwarber broke out of a slump with a three-run homer and Chicago beat Philadelphia.
Baez hit his second homer in two days and tied his career high for hits, and Kris Bryant homered and tripled for the Cubs, who won for the second time in six games.
Jon Lester (1-1) pitched long enough to earn his first victory of the season.
Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson (4-1) allowed six runs and eight hits in four innings.
WHITE SOX 6, ROYALS 0
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Jose Quintana gave up four singles over eight innings and Chicago beat Kansas City.
Quintana (2-4) walked two, struck out seven and allowed only one runner to reach second base.
The Royals lost for the 10th time in 11 games. Starter Danny Duffy (2-2) allowed six runs, 10 hits and two walks over five innings.
TIGERS 5, INDIANS 2
DETROIT – Miguel Cabrera hit his 450th homer in his first game off the disabled list and Detroit beat Cleveland.
Corey Kluber (3-2) gave up five runs and seven hits with a walk in three innings. He struck out four before being removed with discomfort in his lower back.
Cabrera missed the minimum of 10 days with a strained right groin. On a cold, damp night, he left the game for a defensive replacement after seven innings.
Justin Verlander (2-2) won for the first time since opening day. Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his seventh save.
CARDINALS 2, BREWERS 1
ST. LOUIS – Carlos Martinez pitched effectively into the eighth inning and St. Louis once again beat Wily Peralta.
Martinez (1-3), making his sixth start of the season, retired the first 12 batters. Trevor Rosenthal pitched a perfect ninth for his third save in three chances.
Peralta (4-2) fell to 0-9 in his last 11 starts against the Cardinals.
BRAVES 9, METS 7
ATLANTA – R.A. Dickey’s floaters were more effective than Matt Harvey’s fastballs for the second time in a week, Ender Inciarte drove in three runs with three hits and Atlanta beat New York.
New York’s Jay Bruce drove in six runs with two homers, including a grand slam off Matt Wisler in the ninth.
Dickey (3-2) struggled to control his knuckleball but allowed only three runs and four hits in six innings. He had four walks. He also started in a 7-5 win over Harvey and the Mets in New York on Thursday.
Harvey (2-2) gave up six runs for the second straight start. Harvey allowed eight hits with three walks in 5 1/3 innings.
Jim Johnson struck out Neil Walker for his fifth save.
PIRATES 12, REDS 3
CINCINNATI – Josh Harrison hit a three-run homer – his third in two games – and right-hander Tyler Glasnow singled home two runs during a six-run rally that helped Pittsburgh to its first victory of the season over Cincinnati.
Glasnow (1-1) steadied himself after a rough first inning, highlighted by Joey Votto’s three-run homer, to get his first career win. He also singled up the middle off Scott Feldman (1-3) to put the Pirates ahead to stay in the fourth.
Harrison followed Glasnow’s first hit of the season with his third homer in five at-bats for a 7-3 lead. The six-run inning was the biggest allowed by the Reds this season.
TWINS 9, ATHLETICS 1
MINNEAPOLIS – Ervin Santana struck out seven in six shutout innings and Brian Dozier hit two of Minnesota’s six home runs.
Santana (5-0) lowered his ERA to 0.66 for the season and has allowed one run or fewer and gone at least six innings in all six of his starts. Fernando Valenzuela is the only pitcher to do it more when he went seven straight to start the 1981 season.
Sonny Gray (0-1) made his season debut for the Athletics, giving up four runs on five hits and striking out four in six innings.
RAYS 3, MARLINS 1
MIAMI – Edinson Volquez struck out nine but allowed a career-high eight walks, and Tampa Bay took advantage of his historically uneven performance to beat Miami.
Logan Morrison hit his sixth home run and was one of only five batters to put the ball in play against Volquez (0-4). The Rays managed three runs off the right-hander before he left the game with a thumb blister after 4 1/3 innings.
Volquez became the first starter to walk at least eight batters and strike out at least nine while pitching less than five innings since 1900, the Marlins said, citing information from the Elias Sports Bureau.
Alex Cobb (2-2) pitched six scoreless innings for his first win since the first week of the season. Alex Colome earned his seventh save.
Padres 6, Rockies 2
SAN DIEGO – Yangervis Solarte and Ryan Schimpf hit back-to-back home runs off Tyler Chatwood in the sixth inning and San Diego beat Colorado to spoil Bud Black’s return to Petco Park.
Black managed the Padres from 2007 until he was fired on June 15, 2015. The Rockies came in leading the N.L. West by a half game over Arizona.
Chatwood (2-4) held the Padres hitless through five innings before they jumped on him. San Diego starter Trevor Cahill drew a leadoff walk and scored on Manuel Margot’s triple, which bounced past the glove of diving center fielder Charlie Blackmon. Wil Myers hit a one-out RBI double and was aboard for Solarte’s shot to right. Schimpf followed with a moonshot estimated at 431 feet to right-center.
It was Solarte’s third and Schimpf’s seventh. It was the second time this season the Padres went back-to-back. They also did it April 15 at Atlanta.
Cahill (2-2), who grew up in Vista in northern San Diego County, won his second straight home game.
Dodgers 13, Giants 5
LOS ANGELES – Yasiel Puig drove in four runs with two singles and rookie Cody Bellinger added three more with a bases-clearing triple as Los Angeles rallied to defeat San Francisco.
Justin Turner and Franklin Gutierrez each added two RBIs, helping the Dodgers overcome an early 4-0 deficit by scoring six runs in the second inning, four in the fourth and three more in the sixth.
The Dodgers managed 11 hits, including a homer by Gutierrez, but the Giants helped Los Angeles with nine walks.
Despite throwing 82 pitches the first three innings, Alex Wood (2-0) made it through the fifth to earn the victory. He allowed five runs, four earned, and seven hits. He walked one and struck out eight.
Matt Moore (1-4) took the loss, lasting just 3 1/3 innings. Moore was charged with nine runs and six hits with five walks.