Judge clubs MLB-leading 54th homer, Yankees defeat Twins 5-2

NEW YORK (AP) – Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 54th home run, connecting for the third straight day and sending the New York Yankees over the Minnesota Twins 5-2 on Monday. Judge has homered in five of his last seven games for the AL East leaders. He snapped a 2-2 tie in the sixth inning when he hit a 3-1 slider from Trevor Megill (3-2) into the second deck in left. The All-Star slugger reached 54 homers in his 131st game. He is on pace to hit 65 homers, four more than Roger Maris’ AL record in 1961. Judge, who also doubled, followed Gary Sánchez’s 473-foot, two-run homer into the left field bleachers off Jameson Taillon in the fifth that tied it at 2. Marwin Gonzalez also homered for the Yankees, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa added his second homer this year in the seventh. Greg Weissert (2-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings for his second career win. Clay Holmes earned his 19th save. BLUE JAYS 8, ORIOLES 4, 2ND GAME BLUE JAYS 7, ORIOLES 3, 1ST GAME BALTIMORE (AP) – Bo Bichette hit a career-high three home runs in the second game of a doubleheader, and Toronto defeated Baltimore to complete a sweep and widen its lead in the AL wild-card race. Bichette hit a three-run homer off Nick Vespi in the third inning, then added solo drives in the sixth and seventh off Bruce Zimmermann. The shortstop had six hits and seven RBIs during the doubleheader. Bichette lined to center in the ninth when he came up with a chance to tie the major league record of four home runs in a game. He matched a career high with five RBIs in the nightcap. Toronto won the opener behind Kevin Gausman, who allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings in his first outing at Camden Yards since Baltimore traded him in July 2018. Cavan Biggio also homered in the second game for the Blue Jays, who extended their lead over Baltimore to 4½ games for the AL’s third and final wild-card spot. The teams will meet 10 times in the final 31 days of the regular season, a stretch that began Monday. Rougned Odor and Adley Rutschman homered in the second game for Baltimore. The Orioles have lost three in a row, their longest skid since a four-game slide from June 28-July 2. Toronto starter José Berríos (10-5) allowed three runs and eight hits in six-plus innings, striking out two. Keegan Akin (3-2) took the loss, allowing two runs in 2 1/3 innings. In the opener, Anthony Santander homered from both sides of the plate for Baltimore. Rutschman had two hits and scored a run. George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bichette hit consecutive RBI singles against rookie DL Hall as Toronto broke the game open in the ninth inning. Mike Baumann (1-3) yielded three runs in five innings in his first major league start. WHITE SOX 3, MARINERS 2 SEATTLE (AP) – Lance Lynn struck out a season-high 11, Elvis Andrus hit a two-run home run and the Chicago ended Seattle’s seven-game winning streak. Lynn retired the final 17 batters he faced in a dominant outing. The win kept the White Sox on the heels of Minnesota and Cleveland in a suddenly tight AL Central race, while Seattle lost ground to both Toronto and Tampa Bay in the chase for the top wild-card spot in the AL. Lynn (5-5) didn’t allow a base runner after Abraham Toro’s bloop RBI single in the second inning and he allowed just three hits. A.J. Pollock also hit a solo home run for the White Sox. Marco Gonzales (10-13) threw seven innings for the just second time since late June, allowing four hits and striking out three. DIAMONDBACKS 5, PADRES 0 SAN DIEGO (AP) – Ryne Nelson was brilliant in his big league debut, allowing just four hits in seven innings and retiring 17 straight batters at one point to lead Arizona over San Diego.