NEW YORK — Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 54th home run, connecting for the third straight day and sending the New York Yankees over the Minnesota Twins 5-2 on Monday.
Judge has homered in five of his last seven games for the AL East leaders. He snapped a 2-2 tie in the sixth inning when he hit a 3-1 slider from Trevor Megill (3-2) into the second deck in left.
The All-Star slugger reached 54 homers in his 131st game. He is on pace to hit 65 homers, four more than Roger Maris’ AL record in 1961.
Judge, who also doubled, followed Gary Sánchez’s 473-foot, two-run homer into the left field bleachers off Jameson Taillon in the fifth that tied it at 2.
Marwin Gonzalez also homered for the Yankees, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa added his second homer this year in the seventh.
Greg Weissert (2-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings for his second career win. Clay Holmes earned his 19th save.
BLUE JAYS 7, ORIOLES 3, 1ST GAME
BLUE JAYS 8, ORIOLES 4, 2ND GAME
BALTIMORE — Bo Bichette hit a career-high three home runs in the second game of a doubleheader, and Toronto defeated Baltimore to complete a sweep and widen its lead in the AL wild-card race.
Bichette hit a three-run homer off Nick Vespi in the third inning, then added solo drives in the sixth and seventh off Bruce Zimmermann. The shortstop had six hits and seven RBIs during the doubleheader. Bichette lined to center in the ninth when he came up with a chance to tie the major league record of four home runs in a game. He matched a career high with five RBIs in the nightcap.
Toronto won the opener behind Kevin Gausman, who allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings in his first outing at Camden Yards since Baltimore traded him in July 2018.
Cavan Biggio also homered in the second game for the Blue Jays, who extended their lead over Baltimore to 4½ games for the AL’s third and final wild-card spot.
Rougned Odor and Adley Rutschman homered in the second game for Baltimore. The Orioles have lost three in a row, their longest skid since a four-game slide from June 28-July 2.
Toronto starter José Berríos (10-5) allowed three runs and eight hits in six-plus innings, striking out two. Keegan Akin (3-2) took the loss, allowing two runs in 2 1/3 innings.
In the opener, Anthony Santander homered from both sides of the plate for Baltimore. Rutschman had two hits and scored a run.
George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bichette hit consecutive RBI singles against rookie DL Hall as Toronto broke the game open in the ninth inning.
Mike Baumann (1-3) yielded three runs in five innings in his first major league start.
GUARDIANS 6, ROYALS 5, 10 INNINGS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Oscar Gonzalez hit a two-run double in the 10th inning and Cleveland snapped a five-game losing streak, beating Kansas City to regain sole possession of the AL Central lead.
Cleveland moved a game ahead of Minnesota, which lost to the New York Yankees. The third-place Chicago White Sox are one game behind the Twins.
Josh Naylor homered for the Guardians, and Andrés Giménez scored twice.
Drew Waters hit his first major league home run for the Royals, and Salvador Perez’s one-out RBI double in the eighth tied it at 4.
Eli Morgan (5-3) won in relief, and Emmanuel Clase earned his 31st save in 33 opportunities. He allowed a run in the 10th but stranded the potential tying run at first base.
Carlos Hernandez (0-5) took the loss.
WHITE SOX 3, MARINERS 2
SEATTLE — Lance Lynn struck out a season-high 11, Elvis Andrus hit a two-run home run and the Chicago ended Seattle’s seven-game winning streak.
Lynn retired the final 17 batters he faced in a dominant outing. The win kept the White Sox on the heels of Minnesota and Cleveland in a suddenly tight AL Central race, while Seattle lost ground to both Toronto and Tampa Bay in the chase for the top wild-card spot in the AL.
Lynn (5-5) didn’t allow a base runner after Abraham Toro’s bloop RBI single in the second inning and he allowed just three hits.
A.J. Pollock also hit a solo home run for the White Sox.
Marco Gonzales (10-13) threw seven innings for the just second time since late June, allowing four hits and striking out three.
DIAMONDBACKS 5, PADRES 0
SAN DIEGO — Ryne Nelson was brilliant in his big league debut, allowing just four hits in seven innings and retiring 17 straight batters at one point to lead Arizona over San Diego.
The 24-year-old Nelson (1-0) allowed Jurickson Profar’s leadoff double in the first, then didn’t permit another runner until Profar doubled with two outs in the sixth. Nelson struck out seven and walked none on 87 pitches.
Stone Garrett hit a solo homer for Arizona, which won for the ninth time in 11 games. San Diego, clinging to an NL wild-card spot, lost its third straight.
Blake Snell (6-8) struck out 10 in six innings while allowing one run on four hits. He walked one.
RAYS 4, RED SOX 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Manuel Margot and David Peralta each doubled home a run in the seventh inning, sending Tampa Bay past Boston for its 12th win in 15 games
Tampa Bay stopped Boston’s five-game winning streak and stayed five games behind the first-place Yankees in the AL East. The Rays hold one of three AL wild-card spots in a tight race that also includes Seattle, Toronto and Baltimore.
With the Rays trailing 3-2 in the seventh, pinch-hitter Vidal Bruján was hit by a pitch from Jeurys Familia (2-2) and stole second. Bruján advanced on a groundout and scored on Margot’s double off Familia. One out later, Peralta punched an RBI double over first base off Zack Kelly to give Tampa Bay a 4-3 lead.
Calvin Faucher (2-3) got the win in relief; Pete Fairbanks earned his fifth save in five attempts.
Red Sox starter Michael Wacha struck out seven in his bid to win a fifth straight start. He gave up two runs on seven hits, leaving after six innings. Alex Verdugo added a homer.
ASTROS 1, RANGERS 0
HOUSTON — Hunter Brown scattered three hits across six innings in his major league debut, and Houston handed Texas its ninth straight loss.
The Astros scored against hard-luck loser Martín Pérez (10-6) with the help of an error in the second. But that one run was enough on a night when three relievers completed a three-hitter after Brown’s stellar start in which he struck out five and walked one.
Bryan Abreu pitched the seventh and Hector Neris worked the eighth before Rafael Montero got three outs for his 12th save.
Pérez yielded six hits with five strikeouts in seven innings.
Trey Mancini walked with two outs in the Houston second before a single by Chas McCormick. Martín Maldonado then singled on a line drive to left field and an error by Thompson on the play allowed Mancini to score.
NATIONALS 6, CARDINALS 0
ST. LOUIS — Jack Flaherty pitched five effective innings for St. Louis in his first big league action since June, but the NL Central-leading Cardinals had their four-game winning streak stopped by Joey Meneses and Washington.
Meneses got three hits and fellow rookie C.J. Abrams had four to back five shutout innings from Aníbal Sánchez (2-5). Washington, which has the worst record in the majors, has won three in a row.
Flaherty (0-1) returned from the injured list after being sidelined by a right shoulder issue. In his first start since June 26, he allowed one run on six hits and a walk. He struck out six and hit a batter while throwing 91 pitches.
St. Louis managed just three singles against three pitchers. Msson Thompson allowed one hit in three innings for his first big league save.
BREWERS 6, ROCKIES 4
DENVER — Victor Caratini hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning for Milwaukee helping Craig Counsell earn managerial win No. 600.
Counsell reached the milestone in roller-coaster fashion, with Milwaukee trailing 3-0 after the first inning, rallying and then escaping a two-out, bases-loaded jam in the eighth.
Caratini lined a slider from reliever Justin Lawrence for his ninth homer of the season. The Brewers trail San Diego by two games for the final NL wild card.
Adrian Houser (5-9) allowed three runs, one earned, and two hits over five innings. Devin Williams earned his 10th save.
C.J. Cron homered and Ryan Feltner (2-7) took the loss for Colorado, surrendering four runs and five hits over 5 1/3 innings.
ANGELS 10, TIGERS 0
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Shohei Ohtani had his sixth multi-homer game of the season, Mike Trout also went deep and José Suarez threw three-hit ball over seven innings to lead Los Angeles.
Luis Rengifo had a career-high four hits and drove in a run for the Angels, who had their second-biggest offensive performance of the season with 16 hits.
It was the seventh time this year Ohtani and Trout homered in the same game. Trout’s solo shot to left field in the fifth off Tyler Alexander (3-9) was his 30th home run of the season, marking the seventh time in his 12-year career he has reached that plateau.
It marks the ninth time the Angels have had two players with at least 30 homers in a season. Ohtani has 32, including a two-run line drive in the third and a 416-foot solo drive in the seventh.
Suarez (6-6) struck out seven and went seven innings for the second time in 17 starts this season.
GIANTS 7, DODGERS 4
LOS ANGELES — Lewis Brinson, J.D. Davis, Thairo Estrada and David Villar rocked Andrew Heaney for home runs in back-to-back innings, and Brinson added a solo shot in the ninth to lead San Francisco.
The Giants snapped an eight-game losing streak to their rivals who own a commanding lead in the NL West. The Dodgers’ magic number to clinch the division remained at eight.
The Giants’ season-high five homers in a game were the most given up by the Dodgers since yielding that many to the New York Yankees in a 10-2 loss in 2019.
Logan Webb (12-8) ended a three-game skid in his career-high 28th appearance. The right-hander allowed three runs — two earned — and seven hits in six innings. He struck out six and walked none. Camilo Doval pitched the ninth to earn his 20th save.
Heaney (2-2) gave up six runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings, struck out eight and walked one.