Yankees’ Judge, Chapman close to returning

NEW YORK Yankees slugger Aaron Judge had 11 at-bats in a simulated game and New York closer Aroldis Chapman threw 22 pitches, perhaps the last steps before both are cleared to return to full action.

The team said Judge faced righthanders A.J. Cole and Chance Adams along with minor-league left-hander Phillip Diehl at Yankee Stadium on Monday. Judge is recovering from a broken right wrist, sustained when he was hit by a pitch from Kansas City’s Jakob Junis on July 26.

Judge’s only major-league action since then was two innings in right field last Friday night.

Chapman has not pitched in a game since Aug. 21 because of left knee tendinitis.

The Red Sox can clinch the AL East by winning any of the games in New York in their series that begins Tuesday. The Yankees hold the top AL wild-card spot.

BEST FRIENDS LIVING OUT MAJOR-LEAGUE DREAMS

Outfielder Anthony Alford was pumped about being recalled to the Toronto Blue Jays after spending the last couple of weeks at home working out. But what made it even better for the 24-year-old was that after years of holding on to the dream, Alford and his brother-inlaw Jonathan Davis were finally together at the Major League level.

Davis was recalled from triple-a Buffalo on Sept. 3.

“He’s my best friend,” said Alford, the Jays’ fifth-ranked prospect. “We’ve always said we’re going to play in the bigs together one day and patrol the outfield together, and it’s coming true. We’re both here and now it’s just a matter of going out there and playing and having fun.”

Alford was drafted in the third round by the Jays in 2012 and Davis was picked in the 15th round in 2013. They started playing together in extended spring training in 2013 and then at single-a Lansing in 2015 and have been roommates off and on since.