Judge returns in NY romp
Aaron Judge returned to the Yankees for the first time since his right wrist was broken seven weeks ago, taking over in right field for the final two innings of an 11-0 romp over the Toronto Blue Jays last night in New York.
Judge had not played since July 26, when he was hit by a pitch from Kansas City’s Jakob Junis. The Yankees say for now Judge will be limited to defense and pinch running, but they hope he will become a regular at some point in the regular season’s final two weeks.
Masahiro Tanaka (12-5), bidding to start a likely wild card game against Oakland on Oct. 3, extended his scoreless streak to 20 innings and won his third straight start. Dominating with a sharp splitter, Tanaka struck out eight in six innings and allowed four hits. Luis Cessa got his second save in New York’s largest shutout win margin since a 15-0 victory over the Mets on June 14, 2009.
New York improved to 13-4 against Toronto this season. Starting their final homestand, the Yankees remained 11⁄2 games ahead of the Athletics for home field in the wild card game.
Judge, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, is hitting .285 with 26 home runs and 61 RBI. New York originally projected he would sidelined by the injury for three weeks, but pain lingered and he missed 45 games,
“It’s about hopefully getting him enough at-bats to where he can kind of knock off some of that rust, and hopefully that timing comes back sooner rather than later and he gets in a comfortable place as we head into the final week and into October,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before the game.
Luke Voit hit a two-run double that capped a five-run first inning against Marco Estrada (7-12), who tied a career worst by allowing eight runs and lasted just 22⁄3 innings.
Andrew McCutchen hit his third home run since the Yankees acquired him from San Francisco on Aug. 31 for outfield depth while Judge remains out. McCutchen doubled leading off the first and scored New York’s first run and also singled and walked twice. To make room for Judge, he shifted to left for the first time since 2009 at Triple A.
Didi Gregorius also homered for the Yankees.
Toronto lost its fourth straight game and at 65-82 ensured consecutive losing seasons for first time since 2012-13.
Athletics 2, Rays 1 — In St. Petersburg, Fla., Khris Davis led off the 10th inning with his major league-leading 42nd homer, and Oakland edged Tampa Bay.
Oakland extended its lead for the second AL wild card to nine games over the surprising Rays. Tampa Bay has 16 games left.
Davis’ drive to center off Jaime Schultz (2-1) was his 40th this season as a designated hitter. He joins David Ortiz has the only DHs to have 40 or more homers.
Oakland had just three hits against nine Tampa Bay pitchers.
Blake Treinen (7-2) went two scoreless innings for the win.
Tigers 5, Indians 4 — Andrew Miller gave up two RBI doubles in the seventh inning as Cleveland’s march to the AL Central title was slowed by visiting Detroit, which ended a 10game losing streak at Progressive Field.
Jeimer Candelario, who homered in the first, doubled home one run and Victor Martinez also doubled off Miller to break a 2-2 tie.
The Indians entered with a 15game lead and magic number of 2 to win their third straight division title and secure a postseason berth that has been a foregone conclusion for months.
Any celebrating remains on hold for at least another day.
White Sox 8, Orioles 6 — James Shields picked up his first road victory since Opening Day and Chicago won in soggy Baltimore.
National League
Phillies 14, Marlins 2 — Aaron Altherr homered twice and drove in five runs, helping host Philadelphia drub Miami.
Roman Quinn, Rhys Hoskins and Mitch Walding also connected for the Phillies, who snapped a fivegame losing streak. Zach Eflin (10-7) pitched 61⁄3 innings of one-run ball.
J.T. Realmuto homered for Miami, which dropped its fourth straight. WeiYin Chen (6-11) was tagged for five runs and seven hits in four innings.
The 27-year-old Altherr was expected to be a regular contributor for Philadelphia after he had 19 homers and 65 RBI in 107 games last season. But the outfielder struggled with his swing all spring and was sent down to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on July 22 after hitting just .171 with four homers.
Altherr connected for a two-run shot in the second for his first homer since he was recalled on Sept. 2. Quinn, returning to the lineup for the first time in nine days, added a twoout drive for a 3-0 lead.
Elsewhere in baseball — Chicago Cubs closer Pedro Strop will miss the rest of the regular season with a left hamstring strain, leaving the NL Central leaders with a closer-by-committee approach. …
Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco could be out until next June after having surgery on his left shoulder.