Yankees come out swinging, rout Rays
Leadoff man Aaron Judge singled twice during a six-run first inning off Corey Kluber as the New York Yankees started with seven straight hits for the first time since 1990 and routed the Tampa Bay Rays 10-3 Saturday.
Josh Donaldson homered early and Giancarlo Stanton connected late off a lob pitch as both players returned to the lineup and helped the AL East-leading Yankees move 4 1⁄2 games ahead of Tampa Bay. New York also clinched the season head-to-head tiebreaker over the Rays.
Judge, leading the majors with 55 home runs, hit three singles in raising his average to .307. He is the first Yankees player to reach base at least three times in seven straight games since Mickey Mantle in June 1957.
The Yankees opened a game with seven straight hits — all singles — for the first time since starting a 15-3 win over Baltimore with eight hits in a row on Sept. 25, 1990. New York hit six singles on the first 21 pitches from Kluber.
Judge’s RBI single with two outs in the first chased the two-time Cy Young Award winner after 32 pitches.
Donaldson came back from the paternity list and hit an RBI single that bounced off the top of the fence in the first. Donaldson then homered in the second. He had missed four games following the birth of his daughter.
Stanton hit his 25th home run, connecting on a 47 mph lob from catcher Christian Bethancourt in the eighth.
Stanton had been limited to pinch-hitting appearances in the previous two games since fouling a ball off his left foot in the sixth on Monday.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AGiants 5, Cubs 2:
Joey
Bart and David Villar each homered, doubled and drove in two runs, helping San Francisco win at Chicago to end a five-game losing streak.
EDWIN JACKSON CALLS IT A CAREER
The well-traveled Edwin Jackson, who spent 17 seasons in the majors with a record 14 teams (including the Marlins), announced his retirement on Instagram on Friday — his 39th birthday and the 19th anniversary of his big league debut. Jackson was 107-133 with a 4.78 ERA in 412 games. He threw a no-hitter in 2010 with Arizona at Tampa Bay.