Judge remains at 60 homers, but Yankees win again

NEW YORK (AP) – Aaron Judge went homerless for the fourth straight game and remained one shy of Roger Maris’ American League record of 61 as the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 7-5 on Saturday to close in on their first AL East title since 2019. Judge was 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and a walk. Since hitting No. 60 to spark a ninth-inning comeback Tuesday night, the slugger is 3 for 13 with two doubles, five walks and six strikeouts. Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run homer off John Schreiber (3-4) that broke a 5-all tie in the seventh inning. Rizzo equaled his career high, reaching 32 for the fourth time. The Yankees (93-58) have won six straight and 10 of 12, surpassing last year’s wins total and opening an 8 1/2-game division lead with 11 to play. Xander Bogaerts went 2 for 4 for Boston and took over the AL batting lead with a .315 average to Judge’s .314. Judge leads the majors with 128 RBIs and is in contention for the first Triple Crown since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012. Oswaldo Cabrera had a two-run homer for the Yankees, and Gleyber Torres hit his 24th of the season. Triston Casas and Reese McGuire homered for Boston. Lucas Luetge (4-4) for the win and Scott Effross earned his third save, second with the Yankees. BLUE JAYS 3, RAYS 1 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Alek Manoah pitched seven shutout innings, Whit Merrifield hit a three-run homer and Toronto regained the top AL wild-card spot with a victory over Tampa Bay. The Blue Jays lead the Rays by one game. The top wild card finisher will host all games in their best-of-three opening-round series, while the other two wild cards play strictly on the road. Manoah (15-7) scattered four hits, walked two and struck out eight while throwing a season-high 113 pitches. Jordan Romano got four outs for his 35th save in 41 chances. Tampa Bay starter Drew Rasmussen (10-7) gave up one run and three hits in 6 1/3 innings. Merrifield connected in the seventh off Brooks Raley. ATHLETICS 10, METS 4 OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Jacob deGrom got hit around and lasted a season-low four innings as New York squandered an early lead and lost to Oakland. Handed a 3-0 advantage, deGrom (5-3) gave up four runs in the bottom of the first. He was tagged for five runs and four walks overall – the worst start for the two-time Cy Young Award winner since 2019. In his last three starts, the right-hander has allowed 11 earned runs in 15 innings. The four walks doubled his previous season total. The Mets lost for only the second time in nine games. They lead the NL East by 1 1/2 games over reigning World Series champion Atlanta. Pete Alonso launched his 38th homer for New York, and Mark Vientos hit his first in the majors. Conner Capel homered among his career-best three hits and drove in a career-high four runs. Seth Brown also went deep for the A’s, and rookie Dermis García had a two-run double. Ken Waldichuk (1-2) earned his first major league win in his fifth career start with five solid innings. BRAVES 6, PHILLIES 3 PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Kyle Wright became the first 20-game winner in the majors this season and Atlanta beat Philadelphia to stop a three-game losing streak. William Contreras and rookie Michael Harris II each homered and had three hits for the Braves (94-58), who moved within 1 1/2 games of the first-place Mets in the NL East. The teams play three games in Atlanta next weekend. Bryce Harper hit a two-run homer for Philadelphia (83-68), which holds the third and final NL wild-card spot by 1 1/2 games over Milwaukee. The 26-year-old Wright (20-5) went 5 1/3 innings and became the first Braves pitcher to win 20 games since Russ Ortiz won 21 in 2003. Kenley Jansen earned his 37th save.