Aaron Judge blasts 2 HRs, needs 2 to tie Maris' AL record

Sun, Sep 18, 2022
MLB News (AP)

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Aaron Judge hit his 58th and 59th home runs of the season to move within two of Roger Maris' American League record with 16 games remaining and lead the New York Yankees over the Milwaukee Brewers 12-8 on Sunday.

Judge added a two-run double in the ninth as part of a four-hit day for New York, which hit five homers and avoided a three-game sweep. The Yankees opened a 5 1/2-game lead over second-place Toronto in the AL East.

Judge's 11th multihomer game tied the season record set by Detroit's Hank Greenberg 1938 and matched by the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa in 1998.

Seeking a Triple Crown, Judge leads the major leagues in homers and with 127 RBIs. His .3162 batting average is just behind AL leader Luis Arraez of Minnesota at .317 and Boston's Xander Bogaerts at .3164.

Milwaukee dropped two games behind San Diego, which played later Sunday, for the third and last NL wild card.

METS 7, PIRATES 3

NEW YORK (AP) - Jacob deGrom struck out 13 batters - the most ever for a Mets pitcher who threw five or fewer innings - but didn't factor into the decision. The NL East leaders beat Pittsburgh to complete a four-game sweep.

The Mets scored four in the eighth to break the tie. Terrance Gore pinch-ran in place of Tomas Nido, who hit a single off Robert Stephenson (2-2). Gore stole second after three throws to first by Manny Banuelos, took third when catcher Jason Delay's throw sailed into centerfield and scored on Brandon Nimmo's bloop single.

Daniel Vogelbach added a one-out, two-RBI single and Eduardo Escobar had a run-scoring groundout.

Joely Rodriguez (1-4) struck out a career-high five in two perfect innings.

The Mets stranded 12 runners in the first seven innings, but their pitchers combined to strike out 20 batters, tying the big league record for a nine-inning game.

ASTROS 11, ATHLETICS 2

HOUSTON (AP) - Framber Valdez set an MLB record with his 25th straight quality start, and Yordan Alvarez and Martin Maldonado had four RBIs each to help Houston build an early lead in a rout of Oakland.

Alvarez drove in three runs with a double in Houston's five-run third inning and padded the lead with an RBI double the sixth inning. He extended his hitting streak to a season-high nine games, piling up nine hits, four home runs and nine RBIs in the series, in which Houston took three of four.

Valdez (16-5) allowed four hits and two runs with seven strikeouts in six innings to pass Jacob deGrom (24 in 2018) for the most consecutive quality starts in a single season in MLB history.

Maldonado tied a career-high with his first four-hit game since 2015 and scored four times for the first time in his 12-year career.

The Astros jumped on rookie Ken Waldichuk (0-2) early as he was tagged for five hits and five runs in 2 2/3 innings in his fifth career start.

MARLINS 3, NATIONALS 1

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sandy Alcantara pitched his major league-leading fifth complete game, a seven-hitter that led Miami over Washington to avoid a series sweep.

Alcantara (13-8) struck out seven and walked one, throwing 104 pitches. His 2.37 ERA is second in the National League to the 2.27 of the Los Angeles Dodgers' Julio Urias, and Alcantara leads the major leagues with 212 2/3 innings.

Garrett Cooper hit a sixth-inning, opposite-field homer to left-center for Miami, which had lost seven of nine.

Luis Garcia hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth for the Nationals, and Anibal Sanchez (2-6) allowed two runs in six innings while striking out three.

REDS 3, CARDINALS 0

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Stuart Fairchild homered, Luis Cessa tossed five shutout innings and Cincinnati shut down Albert Pujols and St. Louis.

The 42-year-old Pujols, who entered the game with 698 home runs, went 0 for 4. Pujols sits fourth on the all-time list behind Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714). The Cardinals have 14 games remaining.

St. Louis, which managed just two hits, had a three-game winning streak snapped but have a healthy lead over Milwaukee in the NL Central.

Jordan Montgomery (8-5) allowed three runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings, striking out nine and walking two.

Cessa (4-3) gave up just one hit, a single by Paul DeJong in the third. Buck Farmer recorded his second save in three opportunities.

TWINS 3, GUARDIANS 0

CLEVELAND (AP) - Joe Ryan pitched shutout ball for the second straight outing and become only the second Minnesota starter to reach the eighth inning this season in Minnesota's win over Cleveland.

Jake Cave hit a solo homer in the second off Cody Morris (0-2) and AL batting leader Luis Arraez added a two-run single in the ninth against Enyel De Los Santos as third-place Minnesota stopped an eight-game losing streak against Cleveland.

Ryan (12-8) allowed three hits in 7 2/3 innings, struck out five and walked two.

BRAVES 5, PHILLIES 2

ATLANTA (AP) - Rookie Spencer Strider took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and struck out 10, William Contreras hit a tiebreaking homer and Atlanta beat Philadelphia for the three-game sweep.

Strider (11-5) didn't allow a hit until Alec Bohm homered to tie the score 1-1.

Contreras drove a changeup by Connor Brogdon (2-1) for a 410-foot shot into the left-field seats to make it 2-1 in the sixth.

Robbie Grossman hit his seventh homer to give the Braves a 3-1 lead against Sam Coonrod in the seventh.

ORIOLES 5, BLUE JAYS 4

TORONTO (AP) - Adley Rutschman hit a two-run single in the ninth inning, Baltimore turned the 15th triple play in team history and the Orioles rallied to beat Toronto.

Jesus Aguilar hit a solo homer, and Rutschman went 2 for 3 with two walks.

Joey Krehbiel (5-4) pitched a perfect eighth for the win. Felix Bautista earned his 14th save in 15 chances.

Guerrero and Danny Jansen hit solo homers for the Blue Jays, who maintained their position atop the AL wild card standings.

WHITE SOX 11, TIGERS 5

DETROIT (AP) - Andrew Vaughn hit his first career grand slam in Chicago's win over Detroit.

Eloy Jimenez and AJ Pollock also connected as Chicago won for the third time in four games. Jimenez finished with three hits and three RBIs, and Gavin Sheets had two hits and two RBIs.

The White Sox trailed the Guardians by 4 1/2 games heading into play on Sunday and host Cleveland for a three-game series starting Tuesday.

Sheets snapped a tie with a bases-loaded walk against Drew Hutchison (2-9) in the fifth, and Vaughn made it 7-2 when he drove a 1-2 slider from James Foley deep to left-center for his team-high 17th homer.

RAYS 5, RANGERS 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Christian Bethancourt and Jose Siri hit back-to-back homers over a three-pitch stretch in the second inning, and Tampa Bay beat Texas.

Bethancourt had three hits, and Siri went 2 for 3 with a walk. Jonathan Aranda, Manuel Margot and Taylor Walls each drove in a run.

Tampa Bay secured its fifth straight winning season and is in the mix for one of the AL's three wild cards.

Rays left-hander Jeffrey Springs (9-4) pitched 5 2/3 innings of three-run ball. Pete Fairbanks worked the ninth for his eighth save in eight chances.

Josh Jung and Corey Seager homered for the Rangers. Glenn Otto (6-9) allowed four runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings.

RED SOX 13, ROYALS 3

BOSTON (AP) - Rafael Devers had four hits and three RBIs in Boston's win over Kansas City.

Tommy Pham added three hits and three RBIs, and Kike Hernandez scored four times. Last-place Boston had dropped three of four and seven of 10 overall.

Xander Bogaerts added two hits with an RBI double, moving him into a tie with Dom DiMaggio (308) for ninth on Boston's career list.

Salvador Perez hit a solo homer for Kansas City. Vinnie Pasquantino and Drew Waters each had an RBI double.

Boston's Nick Pivetta (10-11) gave up three runs in five innings. Kris Bubic (2-13) lost his seventh straight start, giving up five runs in 2 2/3 innings.

ROCKIES 4, CUBS 3

CHICAGO (AP) - Randal Grichuk had two hits and two RBIs, and Colorado beat Chicago for a rare second straight win on the road.

Connor Joe hit a solo homer for last-place Colorado, and Brendan Rodgers had a run-scoring groundout. Ryan Feltner (3-8) pitched 5 1/3 innings of three-run ball for his first win since Aug. 9. Daniel Bard pitched a perfect ninth for his 32nd save.

Yan Gomes homered and drove in a season-high three runs for the Cubs, who trailed 4-0 after two innings. David Bote had two hits.

Cubs starter Javier Assad (1-2) struggled with his control. He issued four walks in two innings and was charged with four runs and two hits.

___

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports