BOSTON — Aaron Judge etched his name deeper into franchise lore while Luis Gil dominated on the mound Friday night, leading the New York Yankees to a crucial 4-1 triumph over the rival Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park while strengthening their position in the competitive American League wild-card battle.
Aaron Judge’s mammoth solo homer in the opening frame represented the 362nd blast of his career, elevating him past Joe DiMaggio for fourth place in Yankees history. The 468-foot drive — Fenway Park’s longest since Judge’s own 470-foot shot last July — established early momentum as New York opened a 1.5-game advantage over Boston for the AL’s premier wild-card position.
Luis Gil (4-1) displayed remarkable command and control, tossing six hitless innings while striking out four and walking four batters. The right-hander departed after 93 pitches, and although Fernando Cruz surrendered a solo homer to Nate Eaton in the seventh to end the combined no-hit attempt, Gil’s performance stood as his most dominant outing this season.
Offense provides early support
Judge’s historic blast wasn’t New York’s only early production. During the third inning, Ben Rice reached base via catcher’s interference — Carlos Narváez’s league-leading sixth infraction — before Cody Bellinger delivered a run-scoring single that brought Judge home for a 2-0 Yankees advantage.
Boston created pressure during the fifth, placing two runners on base despite remaining hitless. A balk advanced runners to second and third, but Gil responded with crucial outs: striking out Ceddanne Rafaela and retiring Jarren Duran on a line drive to maintain both the shutout and no-hit bid.
Relief corps secures victory
Following Cruz’s surrender of Eaton’s homer, the Yankees’ bullpen maintained control. David Bednar worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 23rd save of the campaign.
Lucas Giolito (10-4) absorbed the defeat for Boston, yielding two runs (one earned) across 5 2/3 innings.
Judge, who connected twice Thursday to tie DiMaggio, now trails only Babe Ruth (659), Mickey Mantle (536) and Lou Gehrig (493) on the Yankees’ all-time home run leaderboard.
Key moments & stat
Gil’s fifth-inning escape proved pivotal as he navigated around a balk and two baserunners to retire Rafaela and Duran, preserving both Boston’s hitless status and the shutout while demonstrating composure under pressure.
Carlos Narváez was assessed his MLB-leading sixth catcher’s interference violation this season, with Yankees manager Aaron Boone disputing a potential seventh during the first inning before umpires ruled his challenge arrived too late.
Yankees roster
| hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| T. Grisham CF | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.239 | 0.345 | 0.464 |
| A. Judge DH | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0.323 | 0.444 | 0.673 |
| B. Rice 1B | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.243 | 0.331 | 0.475 |
| P. Goldschmidt 1B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.278 | 0.329 | 0.416 |
| C. Bellinger RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.276 | 0.333 | 0.498 |
| G. Stanton LF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.272 | 0.348 | 0.592 |
| J. Dominguez PR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.257 | 0.329 | 0.389 |
| A. Slater LF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.226 | 0.284 | 0.394 |
| J. Chisholm Jr. 2B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.242 | 0.338 | 0.484 |
| A. Wells C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.213 | 0.27 | 0.441 |
| J. Caballero SS | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.233 | 0.334 | 0.333 |
| R. McMahon 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.219 | 0.318 | 0.392 |
| pitchers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | PC-ST | ERA |
| L. Gil(W, 4-1) | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 93-54 | 2.83 |
| F. Cruz | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 20-12 | 3.89 |
| D. Williams(H, 11) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20-15 | 5.4 |
| D. Bednar(S, 23) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13-10 | 2.43 |
Up next
Yankees LHP Max Fried (16-5) opposes Red Sox RHP Brayan Bello (11-6) in Saturday night’s second game at Fenway Park.
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