Judge makes history as Yanks win
NEW YORK—Aaron Judge broke Mark McGwire’s major league record for home runs by a rookie, hitting a pair for the second straight day to raise his total to 50 and lead the New York Yankees over the Kansas City Royals 11-3 Monday.
The 6-foot-7, 25-year-old slugger tied the 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. His solo shot over the visitors’ bullpen in left against Trevor Cahill in the seventh made it 7-3 and earned him a rare curtain call.
Judge has 13 home runs in September and six in five games, and he is second in the majors behind Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton, who has 57. Judge has four multihomer games this month and seven this season.
Judge was hitting .329 with 30 homers and 66 RBIs when he won the All-Star Home Run Derby, then slumped to a .179 average with seven homers and 16 RBIs from the start of the second half through Aug. 31, striking out 67 times in 44 games. His September rebound boosted his average to .283 with 108 RBIs and an AL-leading 120 walks and a big leaguehigh 203 strikeouts, putting himself back into MVP consideration.
McGwire hit 49 homers for Oakland in 1987, breaking the previous mark of 38 set by the Boston Braves’ Wally Berger in 1930 and matched by Cincinnati’s Frank Robinson in 1956.
Greg Bird added a two-run homer into the right field second deck in the sixth, his seventh home run this season and fourth in nine games. Gary Sanchez followed Judge in the seventh with back-toback homers for the third time this year, raising his total to 33.
Blue Jays 6, Red Sox 4
BOSTON—Josh Donaldson homered and drove in three runs, powering the Toronto Blue Jays past the AL Eastleading Boston Red Sox 6-4 on Monday night.
Boston’s six-game winning streak was snapped and its magic number to clinch a second straight division title remained at three. The Red Sox lead the second-place New York Yankees, who beat Kansas City earlier in the day, by four games with six remaining.
Eduardo Nunez and Mookie Betts both left with injuries for Boston. Nunez aggravated a right knee injury that sidelined him for 13 games, and Betts came out with pain in his left wrist.
Ryan Goins hit a solo homer and Teoscar Hernandez had a two-run double for the Blue Jays. Brett Anderson (2-2) allowed three runs in five innings.
Braves 9, Mets 2, 1st game Mets 3, Braves 2, 2nd game
NEW YORK—Seth Lugo pitched twohit ball over six innings, Travis d’Arnaud hit a record-setting homer for New York and the Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2 to split a doubleheader Monday night.
D’Arnaud helped New York rebound from a 9-2 loss in the opener with his solo shot in the eighth. It was the 219th homer for the Mets, a franchise season mark. The sparse crowd at Citi Field jeered when the home run apple didn’t rise after d’Arnaud’s homer, then cheered when it finally came out of the bin it’s housed in three batters later.
Lugo (7-5) struck out seven and didn’t walk anybody. Jeurys Familia got his fifth save and second since returning from surgery to remove a blood clot in his right arm.
Rookie right-hander Lucas Sims had his best performance in the majors, fellow first-year player Ozzie Albies homered and the Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets in the first game.
Sims (3-5) finished allowing two runs and five hits over 6 2/3 innings for his first victory since Aug. 22.
Nick Markakis had a two-run double and Tyler Flowers homered for Atlanta, which has won three of four. Flowers also caught two baserunners stealing.
Juan Lagares had three hits and Tomas Nido drove in a pair of runs in his first major league start for the Mets, who lost for the seventh time in the last eight games.
Nationals 3, Phillies 1
PHILADELPHIA—Michael Taylor homered, A.J. Cole allowed one run while pitching into the sixth inning and the Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-1 on Monday night.
Ryan Zimmerman doubled and Jayson Werth drove in the other run for the NL East champion Nationals, who extended their franchise record with 50 road wins.
Any plans the Nationals had of returning former MVP Bryce Harper to the lineup on Monday were derailed by his flulike symptoms. The five-time All-Star has been out since he slipped on a wet base and hyperextended his left knee on Aug. 12. He has missed 42 games.
The Nationals rested Daniel Murphy and Anthony Rendon.