Judge second fastest to 200 HRS; Yankees thwart Royals

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge became the secondfastest major leaguer to reach 200 home runs as the New York Yankees beat Kansas City 8-2 on Saturday.

Judge, who became the majors’ first player this season to reach 40 homers Friday, fouled off two breaking pitches from Jonathan Heasley (1-6) before sending a 2-and-2 fastball to right-center for a two-run drive in the second inning. It was one of his two hits, and he walked twice.

The 6-foot-7-inch slugger’s 200th homer came in his 671st game, behind just Philadelphia first baseman Ryan Howard, who achieved the feat in 2009 in 658 games. Judge has 42 homers this year and is on pace for 67. He is tied with Sammy Sosa and two behind Barry Bonds and Mark Mcgwire for the most before Aug. 1. Judge is hitting .447 with nine homers and 21 RBIS in the past 10 games.

■ Brewers 9, Red Sox 4: At Boston, Hunter Renfroe’s two-run shot was one of three homers that backed Eric Lauer (7-3), who allowed one run in five innings for his first win since June 17.

■ Braves 6, Diamondbacks 2: At Atlanta, William Contreras went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and a solo shot to back Ian Anderson (9-6), who allowed one hit in six shutout innings.

■ Mets 4, Marlins 0: At Miami, Carlos Carrasco (11-4) pitched 7⅔ shutout innings in his 100th win, and Francisco Lindor’s three hits included one of New York’s three homers.

■ White Sox 3, Athletics 2: At Chicago, Gavin Sheets hit a tying two-run homer in the seventh and doubled in the ninth to set up the winning run that scored on a wild pitch.

■ Rays 6, Guardians 4: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Brandon Lowe and Yandy Diaz each hit a two-run homer to back winner Corey Kluber (7-6), who struck out 10 in six innings.

■ Reds 8, Orioles 2: At Cincinnati, Jake Fraley went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and an RBI double to back Tyler Mahle (5-7), who allowed two runs in six innings.

■ Rockies 5, Dodgers 3: At Denver, Kyle Freeland (6-7) outpitched Clayton Kershaw (7-3) as Colorado beat Los Angeles for the first time in seven games.

■ Giants 5, Cubs 4: At San Francisco, Luis Gonzalez hit a two-run homer and Joey Bart a solo shot in the fourth, putting San Francisco up 5-0.

■ Phillies 2, Pirates 1: At Pittsburgh, Didi Gregorius scored the go-ahead run in the Philadelphia 10th on first baseman Michael Chavis’ throwing error.

■ Mariners 5, Astros 4: At Houston, pinch hitter Abraham Toro had a go-ahead two-run single with two outs in the Seattle ninth.

■ Angels 9, Rangers 7: At Anaheim, Calif., Luis Rengifo hit a go-ahead two-run double in Los Angeles’ five-run eighth.

■ Blue Jays 5, Tigers 3: At Toronto, Teoscar Hernandez hit a go-ahead three-run homer in Toronto’s four-run sixth.

■ Nationals 7, Cardinals 6: At Washington, Josh Bell hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the Washington seventh.

■ Twins 7, Padres 4: At San Diego, Carlos Correa hit a two-run homer in Minnesota’s five-run eighth.

Mary Altaffer The Associated Press Aaron Judge swings for his 42nd home run of the year, a two-run blast in the second inning Saturday that helped Al-leading New York hammer the Royals 8-2 at Yankee Stadium.