Judge homers twice, ties DiMaggio as Yankees cruise past Tigers 9-3
Aaron Judge hits two homers as Cam Schlittler rebounds; New York edges ahead in AL wild-card race
Aaron Judge hit two solo home runs Thursday night to tie Joe DiMaggio for fourth on the New York Yankees' all-time list and the Yankees rolled to a 9-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium.
Rookie right-hander Cam Schlittler allowed one run over six innings in a bounce-back start, and Giancarlo Stanton also homered as New York improved to 81-65, a half-game ahead of the Boston Red Sox for the top American League wild-card spot with 16 games remaining. The game came on the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and President Donald Trump attended; he met the team in the home clubhouse before the game and shook hands with players, telling them he believed the Yankees would “go all the way.”
Judge opened the scoring with a first-inning solo homer off Tigers starter Tyler Holton. Detroit tied the game in the second on an RBI single by Dillon Dingler, but New York reclaimed the lead in the third on consecutive RBI singles by Ben Rice and José Caballero. Judge hit his second solo shot in the third off reliever Sawyer Gipson-Long for his 46th of the season, which moved him into a tie with DiMaggio at 361 career homers for the franchise.
Two batters after Judge’s second homer, Stanton hit a solo shot for his 20th of the season and the 449th of his career, tying Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell and Vladimir Guerrero Sr. on Major League Baseball’s all-time list. Stanton had missed the first 10 weeks of the season while recovering from elbow issues and had been mired in a 3-for-36 slump since Aug. 29 before Thursday’s homer.
The Yankees extended the lead in the fourth inning, sending nine batters to the plate and adding four runs. Austin Slate and Cody Bellinger delivered RBI hits and Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed with a two-run single as New York built a 9-1 advantage. The Tigers added two late runs but could not mount a comeback.
Schlittler, 24, recovered from a rough outing his previous start in which he allowed four earned runs over 1 2/3 innings in a 7-1 loss to Toronto. On Thursday he gave up four hits, one run and two walks while throwing six innings. Yankees manager Aaron Boone praised Schlittler’s temperament and handling of both success and adversity, saying Thursday that the rookie is “unfazed” and “expects to go do well” regardless of recent results.
José Caballero started at shortstop for the second straight game after manager Boone said slumping starter Anthony Volpe was dealing with a left-shoulder issue that required a cortisone shot on Wednesday. Caballero’s RBI in the third helped put New York ahead for good.
The victory sends the Yankees into a pivotal three-game series at Fenway Park against the Red Sox this weekend, a head-to-head matchup with major implications for the wild-card race. New York will try to carry Thursday’s offensive outburst and Schlittler’s steadiness into the series; Boston had been in first place in the division but fell behind in the wild-card standings after New York’s win.
Judge, the Yankees' captain, now trails only Babe Ruth (659), Mickey Mantle (536) and Lou Gehrig (493) on the franchise's career home run list. His milestone homers and New York’s victory underscore the team’s push toward the postseason as the regular season draws to a close.