Judge breaks rookie record for homers
Yankee records his 50th shot, passing Mark McGwire
NEW YORK — Aaron Judge circled the bases for the 50th time this season, breaking Mark McGwire’s major league record for home runs by a rookie, and returned to the Yankees dugout to exchange handshakes, hugs and high-fives with excited teammates.
And then, he walked up the steps and back onto the field.
Embarrassed by the attention, he managed four short waves with his right hand before heading back to the bench just three seconds later.
“They kind of told me: ‘You got to go out there. You got to go out there,’” he would later recall. “First curtain call. I hope it was a good one.”
Judge had his second straight two-homer game in an 11-3 rout of Kansas City on Monday, with the Yankees’ 16th win in 22 games coming on a unseasonably warm autumn afternoon during a playoff push that earned no worse than a wild card.
The 6-foot-7, 25-year-old slugger tied McGwire’s 1987 mark with a two-run drive to right-center off Jakob Junis (8-3) in the third inning that put New York ahead 3-0, driving a 93 mph high fastball 389 feet about a halfdozen rows into the right field seats.
Judge pulled a hanging changeup 408 feet for a parabolic solo shot that bounced into the left-center bleachers against Trevor Cahill in the seventh for a 7-3 lead. It was his fourth multihomer game this month and seventh this year.
CUBS 10, CARDINALS 2: In St. Louis, Addison Russell hit a three-run double in the first inning, then made a food run for a fan in enemy territory while Chicago beat St. Louis to move within a victory of clinching its second straight NL Central title.
Kris Bryant and Javier Baez homered for the Cubs, who can wrap up the division with a win today against the Cardinals or a loss by Milwaukee against Cincinnati.
Russell helped the Cubs get to starter Luke Weaver (7-2) early, then made some friends out of rival fans. After diving into the stands chasing a foul ball down the third-base line and spilling a fan’s tray of chips, Russell emerged from the dugout a few innings later with a plate of nachos and delivered it to the fan. Russell stopped to take a selfie before heading back to play shortstop.
The loss eliminated St. Louis from NL Central contention and dimmed the Cardinals’ wild-card hopes.
BLUE JAYS 6, RED SOX 4: In Boston, Josh Donaldson homered and drove in three runs, powering Toronto past AL East-leading Boston.
Boston’s six-game winning streak was snapped and its magic number to clinch a second straight division title remained at three.
WHITE SOX 4, ANGELS 2: In Chicago, James Shields tossed seven strong innings, Nicky Delmonico hit a two-run double and Chicago damaged Los Angeles’ slim playoff hopes.
With six games remaining, the Angels trail Minnesota by five games for the second AL wild card.
ASTROS 11, RANGERS 2: In Arlington, Texas, Marwin Gonzalez had four hits and three RBIs as AL West champion Houston put Texas on the brink of elimination in the wild-card race.
Texas (76-80), division champs the past two years, had an early 2-0 lead before losing its fourth straight game. The Rangers dropped six games behind idle Minnesota for the second AL wild card with six to play.
NATIONALS 3, PHILLIES 1: In Philadelphia, Michael Taylor homered, A.J. Cole allowed one run while pitching into the sixth inning and Washington defeated Philadelphia.
Bryce Harper remained out of Washington’s lineup with flu-like symptoms. The team had said it was possible he would return Monday from a knee injury that’s kept him out since Aug. 12.
MARINERS 7, ATHLETICS 1: In Oakland, Calif., Mitch Haniger homered twice and Felix Hernandez won for the first time in more than two months as Seattle defeated Oakland.
A day after being eliminated from playoff contention, the slumping Mariners snapped Oakland’s season-high seven-game winning streak and its eight-game run at home — the team’s second-longest in 11 years.
MARLINS 5, ROCKIES 4: In Denver, Miguel Rojas drove in four runs to help Miami beat Colorado.
The Rockies went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position as their NL Wild Card lead fell to 1.5 over Milwaukee and 2.5 over St. Louis.
DODGERS 9, PADRES 3: In Los Angeles, Yu Darvish allowed one run on two hits and struck out nine in seven innings to lead Los Angeles to a win over San Diego.
GIANTS 9, DIAMONDBACKS 2: In Phoenix, Nick Hundley hit a three-run homer, Johnny Cueto pitched well over six innings and San Francisco beat Arizona.
Arizona sat most of its regulars a day after clinching the top NL wild card.
BRAVES 9-2, METS 2-3: In New York, Seth Lugo pitched two-hit ball over six innings and Travis d’Arnaud hit a homer for New York in the nightcap of a doubleheader split.
In the first game, Lucas Sims (3-5) turned in his second strong performance since returning to Atlanta’s rotation, allowing two runs and five hits over a career-high 6⅔ innings.