AROUND THE HORN

Yankees: Aaron Judge took another step in his return from a broken right wrist when he played right field for a couple of innings Friday. The Yankees activated him from the disabled list before an 11-0 victory against the Blue Jays. The team said he is limited for now to defense and pinch running. Manager Aaron Boone said the team is a couple days from making a decision on at-bats for Judge in a simulated game, a step before he will hit in a game.

Cubs: RHP 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 as they try to hold off the Brewers and Cardinals. Strop has been the closer since Brandon Morrow was placed on the disabled list July 18. He has 11 saves in 13 opportunities since then and 13 saves on the season. He’s 6-1 with a 2.26 ERA over 592⁄ innings in 60 appearances. Unless the Cubs can make a trade, manager Joe Maddon said he envisions calling on a mix of veterans including Jesse Chavez, Steve Cishek and Justin Wilson to finish games.

Pirates: OF Gregory Polanco could be out until next June after surgery on his left shoulder. Polanco leads the Pirates with a career-high 23 home runs, 81 RBIs and 61 extra-base hits. He batted .254 this season. He dislo- cated his throwing shoulder on an awkward slide into second base on a double last Friday against the Marlins. He is projected to be out seven to nine months. Adam Frazier, Jordan Luplow, Pablo Reyes and rookie Kevin Kramer likely will share right field duties.

Mets: Noah Syndergaard (12-3) pitched seven innings of three-hit ball as the Mets hit four homers to snap the Red Sox’s four-game winning streak with an 8-0 victory. The Red Sox, who lead the majors with 101 victories, had their lead over the Yankees in the AL East reduced to 91⁄ games, and their magic number to clinch a third straight division title remained at six.