LA RUSSA WON’T RETURN TO MANAGE WHITE SOX IN 2022

Manager Tony La Russa will not return for the rest of the season at the direction of his doctors, the White Sox announced Saturday in a statement.

“After undergoing additional testing and medical procedures over the past week, doctors for Tony La Russa have directed him to not return as manager of the Chicago White Sox for the remainder of the 2022 season,” the statement read.

The Sox have been without La Russa, 77, since Aug. 30, when they announced less than an hour before a game against the Royals that he would not manage that night at the direction of his doctors.

The next day the Sox said La Russa was out indefinitely and would undergo further testing with doctors in Arizona.

La Russa attended a ceremony for former pitcher Dave Stewart on Sept. 11 in Oakland.

He told Janie Mccauley of The Associated Press he had a pacemaker inserted for his heart.

La Russa is second all time among major league managers in victories. The 2014 Hall of Fame inductee won World Series titles with the Oakland Athletics (1989) and St. Louis Cardinals (2006, 2011).

Bench coach Miguel Cairo will continue as the acting manager for the remainder of the season. The Sox are 13-10 since Cairo took over Aug. 30.

Judge stuck on 60

Aaron Judge tried to hold up his swing on a 2-2 fastball from Boston’s John Schreiber that was darting high and outside through the afternoon shadows.

Chris Conroy signaled strike three, and Judge pointed his left arm at the first base umpire, then waved in disgust toward the ump while walking back to the Yankees dugout.

“Judgy reacts. He just doesn’t go argue with you,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Saturday after Judge went homerless for the fourth straight game and remained one shy of Roger Maris’ American League record of 61. “It was a case of he felt like he held a swing, A simple reaction, but he was locked right back in.”

New York beat the visiting Red Sox 7-5 to close in on its first AL East title since 2019.

Judge was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, a flyout to medium center and a walk. Since hitting No. 60 to spark a ninth-inning comeback on Tuesday night, Judge is 3for-13 with two doubles, five walks and six strikeouts.

His batting average dropped to .314 as Boston’s Xander Bogaerts went 2for-4 and took over the AL lead at .315. Judge leads the major leagues with 128 RBIS and is in contention for the first Triple Crown since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012.

With the Maris and Judge families again in attendance, the sellout crowd of 47,611 stood and buzzed each time Judge walked to the plate, then quieted for each pitch, as if focusing on a circus attraction called on to perform some feat.

Each foul was met with groans, pitches out of the strike zone with boos.

Notable

Right-hander Luis Castillo agreed to a $108 million, five-year contract with the Mariners that starts next season, giving up a chance to become a free agent after the 2023 World Series. The deal includes an option for 2028 that could make the agreement worth $133 million for six seasons.

• Tampa Bay second baseman Brandon Lowe (back) and right-hander

Shane Baz (Tommy John) are done for the season due to injuries, while one-time ace

Tyler Glasnow is expected back next week following Tommy John surgery in August 2021.