Judge sets rookie HR mark
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 6-7, 25-year-old slugger tied the mark with a two-run drive to right-center off Jakob Junis 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.
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.
RED SOX 6, BLUE JAYS 4: Josh Donaldson homered and drove in three runs, powering Toronto past AL East-leading Boston at Fenway Park. 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 left.
CUBS 10, CARDINALS 2: Addison Russell hit a threerun double in the first inning as Chicago won at St. Louis to move within a win of cinching a second straight NL Central title. The Cubs can wrap up the division with a win Tuesday against St. Louis or a loss by Milwaukee against Cincinnati.
WHITE SOX 4, ANGELS 2: James Shields tossed seven strong innings, Nicky Delmonico drove in a pair of runs, and host Chicago beat Los Angeles, dealing a serious blow to the Angels’ slim playoff hopes.
NATIONALS 3, PHILLIES 1: Michael Taylor homered, A.J. Cole allowed one run while pitching into the sixth inning, and Washington won at Philadelphia.
METS, BRAVES SPLIT: Seth Lugo pitched two-hit ball over six innings, Travis d’Arnaud hit a record-setting homer for New York, and the Mets beat visiting Atlanta 3-2 to split a doubleheader. D’Arnaud helped New York rebound from a 9-2 loss in the opener with his solo shot in the eighth.