BOSTON (AP) — Aaron Judge didn’t homer and Gleyber Torres only sorta did on Wednesday night to lead the AL East-leading New York Yankees past the Boston Red Sox 5-3, completing a two-game sweep.
A day after homering twice to reach 57 for the season — four short of Roger Maris’ AL record — Judge went 1 for 4 with a walk. He singled in the fifth after Aaron Hicks reached on an error, putting runners on first and second.
Torres lined a single to right, and Alex Verdugo’s throw to the plate was too late to get Hicks. Catcher Connor Wong thought he had Torres making too big of a turn and fired the ball to first but it sailed wide and into the outfield.
Judge came around to score, and Torres beat Verdugo’s second throw home for the three-run, Little League homer that gave New York a 3-0 lead. Torres had three hits, and Nestor Cortes (10-4) took a shutout into the fifth to give the Yankees their fourth straight win and their eighth in 10 games.
Red Sox rookie Brayan Bello (1-6) took the loss even though all three runs he allowed were unearned. He struck out six and walked one, giving up six hits in five innings.
Boston managed just three hits and two walks off Cortes, who struck out seven and gave up one run in five-plus innings. Clay Holmes pitched the ninth for his 20th save in 25 chances.
BLUE JAYS 5, RAYS 1
TORONTO (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 100th home run at age 23, and Toronto beat Tampa Bay to ensure winning a rare five-game series against a wild card rival.
Toronto (81-62) has won three of four from the Rays (79-63), who dropped one game behind Seattle (80-82) heading into Thursday’s series finale, Those teams are in the three AL wild-card positions for the expanded playoffs, with Baltimore (75-67) four games behind the Rays.
Guerrero homered off Drew Rasmussen (10-5) in the first inning, his 28th home run this season. At 23 years, 182 days, he became the youngest Blue Jays player to reach 100 homers.
Ross Stripling (8-4) allowed one run and three hits in 6 1/3 innings. He won for the first time in nine career appearances against the Rays.
MARINERS 6, PADRES 1
SEATTLE (AP) — Julio Rodríguez hit the fourth leadoff home run of his rookie season, Eugenio Suárez and Carlos Santana both went deep, and the Seattle Mariners beat the San Diego Padres.
Seattle rebounded quickly from being shut out for the first time in nearly three months and split the brief two-game set. Rodríguez hit the first pitch thrown by Padres starter Mike Clevinger (5-7) for his 26th home run.
Rodríguez later nabbed his 25th stolen base, making him the third rookie in league history to have at least 25 steals and 25 homers in their first season. But unlike Chris Young in 2007 and Mike Trout in 2012, Rodriguez reached the 25/25 plateau in his debut season. Both Young and Trout reached the majors late in the previous season, but were still considered rookies.
Seattle kept pace with Toronto and gained a game on Tampa Bay in the crowded race for the top AL wild card. The Padres hold the third and final NL wild-card slot.
Luis Castillo (7-5) threw six shutout innings, scattering four hits and striking out nine.
GUARDIANS 5, ANGELS 3
CLEVELAND (AP) — José Ramírez hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning, and Cleveland beat Los Angeles for its sixth consecutive victory.
Oscar Gonzalez and Andrés Giménez each had three hits as the AL Central leaders (76-65) moved 11 games over .500 for the first time since September 2020.
The Angels (61-82) clinched their seventh straight losing season, matching the team record set from 1971-77.
With Amed Rosario aboard after a leadoff single, Ramírez drove a 3-1 slider from Ryan Tepera (4-3) to right for his 27th homer. The All-Star third baseman also leads the Guardians with 111 RBIs.
The Guardians opened a four-game lead over the Chicago White Sox, who lost to last-place Colorado. The win streak for Cleveland matches a season high.
Trevor Stephan (5-4) got three outs for the win, and James Karinchak worked the ninth for his third save.
ASTROS 2, TIGERS 1
DETROIT (AP) — Cristian Javier allowed two hits in six shutout innings, and Houston beat Detroit for a seven-game season sweep.
Javier (9-9) struck out eight and walked none. He retired 13 in a row before Riley Greene’s two-out single in the sixth.
Ryan Pressly worked the ninth for his 28th save in 32 chances, finishing a four-hitter.
Houston swept the Tigers over a season for the first time since moving to the American League in 2013. The AL-best Astros (93-50), closing in on their sixth straight postseason appearance, are 25-8 against the AL Central this season.
Joey Wentz (1-2) gave up two runs and four hits in four-plus innings. The Tigers have lost four straight and 11 of 15.
GIANTS 4, BRAVES 1
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Austin Wynns drove in three runs, Carlos Rodón struck out eight in five dominant innings before leaving with a blister and San Francisco slowed Atlanta to win the series.
Atlanta lost two of three to the sub-.500 Giants. The Braves remained a half-game behind the NL East-leading New York Mets.
J.D. Davis added two hits and an RBI for the Giants, who have won four of five.
Rodón (13-8) allowed just an unearned run on two hits and a walk. Giants relievers Tyler Rogers, Scott Alexander, John Brebbia and Camilo Doval combined for four scoreless innings.
Doval struck out the side in the ninth for his 23rd save in 26 opportunities.
Robbie Grossman went 3 for 3 with an RBI for Atlanta. Charlie Morton (8-6) was charged with four runs in 5 1/3 innings for his first loss since July 27.
ROCKIES 3, WHITE SOX 0
CHICAGO (AP) — Colorado starter Kyle Freeland outpitched Dylan Cease and put a dent in Chicago’s push for a playoff spot.
The White Sox fell four games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland with 19 remaining. Chicago travels to Cleveland for a makeup game Thursday, and the teams return to Chicago for a three-game series starting Sept. 20.
Freeland (9-9) frustrated a Chicago lineup that was 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position. He worked around seven hits and three walks, striking out five in 6 2/3 innings
Daniel Bard struck out three in the ninth for his 30th save.
Cease (14-7), a contender for the AL Cy Young Award, threw 56 pitches in the first two innings. Alan Trejo hit an RBI double in the second to snap Cease’s 16-inning scoreless streak. Yonathan Daza singled home a run later in the inning.
PIRATES 10, REDS 4
CINCINNATI (AP) — Rodolfo Castro hit a three-run homer and an RBI single, and Pittsburgh finished a four-game sweep of Cincinnati.
Pirates rookie Oneil Cruz connected for a two-run drive, helping last-place Pittsburgh to its first four-game win streak since mid-July. Ke’Bryan Hayes had three of the Pirates’ 12 hits.
It was Pittsburgh’s first four-game series sweep in Cincinnati since July 1991.
Kyle Farmer and Austin Romine homered for the lowly Reds, who have dropped six in a row. Nick Lodolo (4-6) struck out 11 while working 6 1/3 innings of three-run ball.
Pittsburgh broke it open with four runs in the ninth against Luke Farrell.
Tyler Beede (2-5) got six outs for the win in relief of Roansy Contreras. Miguel Yajure pitched three innings for his first career save.
