Yankees win 5-HR game to close in on AL East title, Judge stays hitless

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NEW YORK — The Yankees win their Saturday home game against the Red Sox to move closer to having the first AL East title after 2019. The game witnessed five players – three Yankees and two Red Sox – hit home runs. But Aaron Judge couldn’t have his much-awaited 61st home run.

The Yankees slugger failed to hit the 61st home run for the fourth day in a row. Roger Maris’s kids were again among the many people at Yankee Stadium on Saturday waiting for to witness the possible baseball history.

The Yankees win still made it a thrilling afternoon by beating the Red Sox 7-5. This was their third victory in three days over the Red Sox and their sixth win in a row. They now only need to win three more games to win their division.

In the seventh inning, a two-run homer by Anthony Rizzo broke the tie and cemented the possibility of the sixth-consecutive Yankees win. In the eighth, Clarke Schmidt put the Yankees on the track to victory by striking out three Red Sox batters in a row after taking over for Lucas Luetge with two on and no outs. Centerfielder Harrison Bader made a diving catch for the second out.

Right-handed rookie Scott Effross pitched a shaky, scoreless ninth inning for the save in his first game after being on the disabled list from August 22 to September 21 after having a shoulder strain. Effross gave up a single to start the game, hit the next batter, and walked two people with two outs. He then closed out the win by getting Bobby Dalbec to hit a grounder to short with the bases full.

Judge didn’t hit a home run though three of his teammates had homered to contribute to the Yankees win. He didn’t break Maris’ American League home run record. He went 0-for-3, struck out twice, and walked once. Since hitting a home run in Tuesday’s win against Pittsburgh, he has gone 3-for-13 in four games.

In a lefty-vs.-lefty battle, Alex Verdugo’s two-out hit off Yankees reliever Lucas Luetge tied the game 5-5 in the seventh.

In the home seventh, Aaron Hicks hit for Kyle Higashioka and walked to start the inning. Rizzo then hit a home run with one out, giving the Yankees a 5-3 lead that held.

Lefty reliever Zack Britton had a rough start to the season after coming back from Tommy John surgery. He gave up a run on a single and three walks in one-third of an inning.

Britton came in to replace Yankees starter Domingo German at the beginning of the sixth inning. He was removed from the game with the bases loaded and one out after he issued four consecutive walks, the most recent of which was issued to left-handed batter Triston Casas, which resulted in a run being scored.

The Yankees’ manager, Aaron Boone, decided to bring in right-handed pitcher Lou Trivino, and Trivino did a fantastic job of keeping the Yanks ahead by getting Dalbec to ground out and striking out Reese McGwire to end the inning. He played a key role in this Yankees win.

In his longest appearance in nearly a month, German gave up three runs over five innings. After working a season-high 7 2/3 innings on August 27, the right-hander pitched one inning on short rest on September 11 before going 1 2/3 innings in his first relief appearance of the year five days later. The switch to the bullpen occurred at the same time that Luis Severino was activated from the 60-day injured list.

But since right-handed pitcher Frankie Montas went on the IL last week, German is back in the rotation, and for this start, he only has to throw a few pitches. He was taken out of the game after 66 pitches. He finished with a 1-2-3, four-pitch sixth.

All of German’s problems came from two home runs in the second inning: a two-run shot by Case, which put the Red Sox ahead 2-1, and a solo shot by the No. 8 batter, Reese McGwire, two batters later.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa drove in a run for the Yankees with a single in the bottom of the second inning, bringing the score to 3-1. In the fourth inning, rookie left fielder Oswaldo Cabrera hit his fourth home run, bringing the score to 4-2 for the Yankees.

Gleyber Torres hit his 24th home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning, giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead.

The Yankees win was a great display of a team effort.

NOTABLE

• Rizzo has now hit 32 home runs in his career, which ties the high mark he set for himself three times while playing for the Cubs in 2014, 2016, and 2017. His two-run homer was key to ensure the Yankees win.

• After being rested on Friday, Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts passed Judge to take the lead for the best batting average in the American League. Bogaerts had a 2-for-4 game with a double and was hit by a pitch. Judge lost the lead. Bogaerts is currently batting .316, which is one point higher than Judge, whose batting average fell from .315 to .314.

• Kiner-Falefa improved his average with runners in scoring position to .336, which places him in third place on the Yankees behind Jose Trevino (.364) and Aaron Judge (.360).

LOOKING AHEAD

Sunday: Red Sox at Yankees, 7:08 p.m., ESPN. LHP Brayan Bello (2-6, 4.75) vs. LHP Nestor Cortes (10-4, 2.67).

Monday: Yankees at Blue Jays, 7:07 p.m., YES. RHP Luis Severino (6-3, 3.36) vs. RHP Kevin Gausman (12-10, 3.32).

Tuesday: Yankees at Blue Jays, 7:07 p.m., YES. RHP Jameson Taillon (13-5, 3.90) vs. RHP Jose Berrios (11-6, 5.27).

Wednesday: Yankees at Blue Jays, 7:07 p.m., YES. RHP Gerrit Cole (12-7, 3.49) vs. RHP Mitch White (1-6, 5.12).

Do you think this Yankees win is an indication of how will be their postseason?

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