Yanks power up early, cap sweep of Mariners
Judge, Andujar go deep to back Severino
NEW YORK — Aaron Boone bristles at the notion his New York Yankees are all or nothing, built entirely on home runs.
“It’s a silly argument,” the manager said. “That does bother me, actually.”
Maybe, but it’s sure a quick way to light up the scoreboard.
Aaron Judge and Miguel Andujar hit two-run homers off James Paxton in the first inning that sent the Yankees over the Seattle Mariners 4-3 on Thursday for a three-game sweep.
Luis Severino and the Yankees boosted the majors’ best record to 50-22. They’ve won four in a row and 17 of 21.
“We’ve obviously played well, racked up a lot of wins,” Boone said. “We’ve played well against some of the elite teams.”
Seattle, which was 20 games over .500 coming into the Bronx, has lost a season-high four straight.
New York launched eight home runs in the sweep and tops the majors with 122 long balls. Andujar sliced a drive the other way, and it barely settled into the short rightfield porch.
Giancarlo Stanton homered in the series’ first two games and almost added another, but Mariners center fielder Mitch Haniger jumped to reach above the wall to rob him in the opening inning.
Severino (11-2) improved to 7-0 at home this season but wasn’t at his best. He gave up Kyle Seager’s tworun homer in the second and permitted eight hits overall, matching a season most. He was pulled with two outs in the sixth after Ben Gamel’s RBI single cut Seattle’s deficit to one run.
David Robertson and Dellin Betances protected the lead, and Aroldis Chapman struck out Dee Gordon on three pitches with a runner on second for his 22nd save in 23 chances.
Paxton (6-2) vigorously pawed at the dirt in front of the rubber for a full 15 seconds before throwing his first warmup pitch. Coming off his shortest start of the year against Boston, he never got settled in his first career start facing the Yankees.
Clint Frazier led off with a single, and Judge followed with his 19th homer. Gleyber Torres singled with two outs, and Andujar’s fly became the rookie’s 10th home run.
Paxton had been 5-0 in 10 starts since April, including a no-hitter at Toronto. He went five innings and threw 107 pitches, the same total as Severino.