ARLINGTON, Texas -- Aaron Judge reacted with a sense of awe about the company of Yankees legends the young slugger joined with his 40-homer season.
"Pretty surreal. Never as a kid did I think that I would be in the same sentence with those guys," Judge said. "It's quite an honor. It's pretty humbling."
The 25-year-old Judge homered twice Sunday in New York's series-clinching 16-7 win at Texas, becoming only the second major league rookie with a 40-homer season. He also joined Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle as the only Yankees to hit 40 homers at age 25 or younger.
Gary Sanchez also hit two homers for the AL wild card-leading Yankees, giving him 30 this season and 50 in 161 games since his 2015 debut.
"It's incredible what they've both done," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
Mark McGwire hit a league-high 49 homers as a rookie for Oakland in 1987, and Judge -- who leads the AL with 41 -- remembers following Big Mac.
"Especially when he was in that home run hunt, with Sammy Sosa, it was fun to watch," Judge said. "It was pretty cool to see as a kid. To be in the same category with him, it's pretty special."
Judge had his fourth multihomer game this year, his first since June 11. He has four homers in seven games since breaking a homerless skid of 57 at-bats and 15 games that stretched back to Aug. 16.
"He's a big strong guy, he's capable of doing some special things," Brett Gardner said. "He's a big reason why we're right on the Red Sox."
Didi Gregorius tied a career high with four hits while driving in four runs for the Yankees (77-65), who have won three straight series for the first time since late July and moved 12 games over .500 for the first time since June 15. New York is 3 1/2 games ahead of Minnesota for the AL's top wild card and 3 1/2 games behind AL East-leading Boston.
After dropping two of three, the Rangers (71-71) were still 2 1/2 games behind the Twins with three weeks left.
"Any loss at this point is bad," Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus said. "The main focus for us now is to keep winning series."
Judge's second homer of the game ricocheted off a facade high above the Yankees bullpen in left-center field, and the ball then dropped among the relievers. That drive in the sixth would have gone 463 feet unimpeded, according to MLB's Statcast
His first homer two innings earlier capped a six-run outburst for a 9-1 lead, landing in the Rangers bullpen in right-center field.
Along with the homers, Judge's walk in the second was his MLB rookie-record 107th this season, and he had a sacrifice fly.
"That just shows he's more than a home run hitter," Girardi said
"With the team I've got around me, all I've got to do is get on base for them and they're going to drive me in," Judge said. "My goal all year is if I can get on with a knock or a walk, they'll do the rest."
PITCHERS OF RECORD
Chad Green (4-0) struck out four in 2 1/3 innings after taking over for starter Jordan Montgomery in the fourth. ... Texas starter A.J. Griffin (6-6) gave up five runs pitching into the fourth. Reliever Nick Martinez then allowed four consecutive hits before a double-play grounder and Judge's first homer.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Yankees: Manager Joe Girardi expects OF Clint Frazier, on the DL since Aug. 9 with a left oblique strain, to rejoin the Yankees this week from his injury rehab assignment at Double-A Trenton.
Rangers: 2B Rougned Odor left with a sprained right angle after getting tangled up with a sliding Nomar Mazara when both were chasing a popup down the right field line in the fifth. X-rays were negative and Odor will be re-evaluated Sunday. ... CF Carlos Gomez (high right ankle sprain) has been told not to put weight on his foot for a couple of days after getting hurt in Saturday's game.
UP NEXT
Yankees: Back to New York to open a series Monday night against Tampa Bay at Citi Field, home of the Mets. The Yankees will be the visiting team for the series moved from St. Petersburg, Florida, because of Hurricane Irma. The Yankees will play 17 of their last 20 games in New York.
Rangers: Cole Hamels (9-3), who has allowed 14 earned runs over 15 1/3 innings while going 0-2 his last three starts, starts Monday night in the opener of a home series against the Seattle Mariners.
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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
"Pretty surreal. Never as a kid did I think that I would be in the same sentence with those guys," Judge said. "It's quite an honor. It's pretty humbling."
The 25-year-old Judge homered twice Sunday in New York's series-clinching 16-7 win at Texas, becoming only the second major league rookie with a 40-homer season. He also joined Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle as the only Yankees to hit 40 homers at age 25 or younger.
Gary Sanchez also hit two homers for the AL wild card-leading Yankees, giving him 30 this season and 50 in 161 games since his 2015 debut.
"It's incredible what they've both done," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
Mark McGwire hit a league-high 49 homers as a rookie for Oakland in 1987, and Judge -- who leads the AL with 41 -- remembers following Big Mac.
"Especially when he was in that home run hunt, with Sammy Sosa, it was fun to watch," Judge said. "It was pretty cool to see as a kid. To be in the same category with him, it's pretty special."
Judge had his fourth multihomer game this year, his first since June 11. He has four homers in seven games since breaking a homerless skid of 57 at-bats and 15 games that stretched back to Aug. 16.
"He's a big strong guy, he's capable of doing some special things," Brett Gardner said. "He's a big reason why we're right on the Red Sox."
Didi Gregorius tied a career high with four hits while driving in four runs for the Yankees (77-65), who have won three straight series for the first time since late July and moved 12 games over .500 for the first time since June 15. New York is 3 1/2 games ahead of Minnesota for the AL's top wild card and 3 1/2 games behind AL East-leading Boston.
After dropping two of three, the Rangers (71-71) were still 2 1/2 games behind the Twins with three weeks left.
"Any loss at this point is bad," Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus said. "The main focus for us now is to keep winning series."
Judge's second homer of the game ricocheted off a facade high above the Yankees bullpen in left-center field, and the ball then dropped among the relievers. That drive in the sixth would have gone 463 feet unimpeded, according to MLB's Statcast
His first homer two innings earlier capped a six-run outburst for a 9-1 lead, landing in the Rangers bullpen in right-center field.
Along with the homers, Judge's walk in the second was his MLB rookie-record 107th this season, and he had a sacrifice fly.
"That just shows he's more than a home run hitter," Girardi said
"With the team I've got around me, all I've got to do is get on base for them and they're going to drive me in," Judge said. "My goal all year is if I can get on with a knock or a walk, they'll do the rest."
PITCHERS OF RECORD
Chad Green (4-0) struck out four in 2 1/3 innings after taking over for starter Jordan Montgomery in the fourth. ... Texas starter A.J. Griffin (6-6) gave up five runs pitching into the fourth. Reliever Nick Martinez then allowed four consecutive hits before a double-play grounder and Judge's first homer.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Yankees: Manager Joe Girardi expects OF Clint Frazier, on the DL since Aug. 9 with a left oblique strain, to rejoin the Yankees this week from his injury rehab assignment at Double-A Trenton.
Rangers: 2B Rougned Odor left with a sprained right angle after getting tangled up with a sliding Nomar Mazara when both were chasing a popup down the right field line in the fifth. X-rays were negative and Odor will be re-evaluated Sunday. ... CF Carlos Gomez (high right ankle sprain) has been told not to put weight on his foot for a couple of days after getting hurt in Saturday's game.
UP NEXT
Yankees: Back to New York to open a series Monday night against Tampa Bay at Citi Field, home of the Mets. The Yankees will be the visiting team for the series moved from St. Petersburg, Florida, because of Hurricane Irma. The Yankees will play 17 of their last 20 games in New York.
Rangers: Cole Hamels (9-3), who has allowed 14 earned runs over 15 1/3 innings while going 0-2 his last three starts, starts Monday night in the opener of a home series against the Seattle Mariners.
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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
| View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-Pitch | Inning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| New York - Top of 1st | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|
| A.J. Griffin pitching for Texas | NYY | TEX |
| Gardner grounded out to first. | 0 | 0 |
| Headley lined out to left. | 0 | 0 |
| Sánchez homered to left (412 feet). | 1 | 0 |
| Gregorius singled to right. | 1 | 0 |
| Castro flied out to center. | 1 | 0 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Texas - Bottom of 1st | SCORE | |
| Jordan Montgomery pitching for New York | NYY | TEX |
| DeShields struck out looking. | 1 | 0 |
| Choo safe at first on error by second baseman Castro. | 1 | 0 |
| Andrus lined out to center. | 1 | 0 |
| Napoli struck out swinging. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Errors | ||
| New York - Top of 2nd | SCORE | |
| A.J. Griffin pitching for Texas | NYY | TEX |
| Judge walked. | 1 | 0 |
| Bird flied out to center. | 1 | 0 |
| Ellsbury fouled out to third. | 1 | 0 |
| Romine lined out to center. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Texas - Bottom of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Jordan Montgomery pitching for New York | NYY | TEX |
| Mazara popped out to shortstop. | 1 | 0 |
| Chirinos homered to right (367 feet). | 1 | 1 |
| Gallo walked. | 1 | 1 |
| Odor flied out to right. | 1 | 1 |
| Rua singled to left, Gallo to second. | 1 | 1 |
| Gallo to third, Rua to second on wild pitch by Montgomery. | 1 | 1 |
| DeShields grounded out to shortstop. | 1 | 1 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Top of 3rd | SCORE | |
| A.J. Griffin pitching for Texas | NYY | TEX |
| Gardner singled to left. | 1 | 1 |
| Headley flied out to center. | 1 | 1 |
| Sánchez hit by pitch, Gardner to second. | 1 | 1 |
| Gregorius doubled to right, Gardner scored, Sánchez to third. | 2 | 1 |
| Castro grounded into fielder's choice to third. | 2 | 1 |
| Judge hit sacrifice fly to right, Sánchez scored. | 3 | 1 |
| Bird fouled out to third. | 3 | 1 |
| 2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Texas - Bottom of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Jordan Montgomery pitching for New York | NYY | TEX |
| Choo grounded out to first. | 3 | 1 |
| Andrus walked. | 3 | 1 |
| Napoli lined out to center. | 3 | 1 |
| Mazara grounded out to first. | 3 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Top of 4th | SCORE | |
| A.J. Griffin pitching for Texas | NYY | TEX |
| Ellsbury hit by pitch. | 3 | 1 |
| Romine singled to deep left, Ellsbury to second. | 3 | 1 |
| Martínez relieved Griffin. | 3 | 1 |
| Gardner tripled to deep center, Ellsbury and Romine scored. | 5 | 1 |
| Headley singled to center, Gardner scored. | 6 | 1 |
| Sánchez doubled to left, Headley to third. | 6 | 1 |
| Gregorius singled to right, Headley scored, Sánchez to third. | 7 | 1 |
| Castro grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, Sánchez scored, Gregorius out at second. | 8 | 1 |
| Judge homered to right (379 feet). | 9 | 1 |
| Mendez relieved Martínez. | 9 | 1 |
| Bird fouled out to first. | 9 | 1 |
| 6 Runs, 6 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Texas - Bottom of 4th | SCORE | |
| Jordan Montgomery pitching for New York | NYY | TEX |
| Chirinos walked. | 9 | 1 |
| Gallo walked, Chirinos to second. | 9 | 1 |
| Odor struck out swinging. | 9 | 1 |
| Rua doubled to deep left, Chirinos scored, Gallo to third. | 9 | 2 |
| Green relieved Montgomery. | 9 | 2 |
| DeShields hit sacrifice fly to center, Gallo scored, Rua to third. | 9 | 3 |
| Choo struck out swinging. | 9 | 3 |
| 2 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Top of 5th | SCORE | |
| Yohander Mendez pitching for Texas | NYY | TEX |
| Ellsbury doubled to right. | 9 | 3 |
| Romine doubled to right, Ellsbury to third. | 9 | 3 |
| Robinson at second base. | 9 | 3 |
| Gardner grounded out to first. | 9 | 3 |
| Headley safe at first on error by third baseman Gallo. | 9 | 3 |
| Sánchez fouled out to right. | 9 | 3 |
| Gregorius singled to right, Ellsbury and Romine scored, Headley to third, Gregorius thrown out at second attempting to advance on play. | 11 | 3 |
| 2 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 Errors | ||
| Texas - Bottom of 5th | SCORE | |
| Chad Green pitching for New York | NYY | TEX |
| Andrus doubled to center. | 11 | 3 |
| Napoli singled to left, Andrus scored. | 11 | 4 |
| Mazara popped out to third. | 11 | 4 |
| Chirinos struck out swinging. | 11 | 4 |
| Gallo flied out to left. | 11 | 4 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Top of 6th | SCORE | |
| Yohander Mendez pitching for Texas | NYY | TEX |
| Gosselin at shortstop. | 11 | 4 |
| Castro grounded out to third. | 11 | 4 |
| Judge homered to left center (463 feet). | 12 | 4 |
| Bird grounded out to second. | 12 | 4 |
| Ellsbury struck out swinging. | 12 | 4 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Texas - Bottom of 6th | SCORE | |
| Chad Green pitching for New York | NYY | TEX |
| Robinson struck out swinging. | 12 | 4 |
| Rua singled to left center. | 12 | 4 |
| DeShields singled to left, Rua to second. | 12 | 4 |
| Choo struck out swinging. | 12 | 4 |
| Kahnle relieved Green. | 12 | 4 |
| Gosselin flied out to right. | 12 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Top of 7th | SCORE | |
| Tyson Ross pitching for Texas | NYY | TEX |
| Jiménez catching. | 12 | 4 |
| Ross relieved Mendez. | 12 | 4 |
| Romine grounded out to pitcher. | 12 | 4 |
| Gardner grounded out to shortstop. | 12 | 4 |
| Headley grounded out to second. | 12 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Texas - Bottom of 7th | SCORE | |
| Tommy Kahnle pitching for New York | NYY | TEX |
| Napoli struck out swinging. | 12 | 4 |
| Hoying hit for Mazara. | 12 | 4 |
| Hoying struck out swinging. | 12 | 4 |
| Jiménez singled to center. | 12 | 4 |
| Jiménez to second on passed ball by Romine. | 12 | 4 |
| Gallo grounded out to first. | 12 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Top of 8th | SCORE | |
| Tyson Ross pitching for Texas | NYY | TEX |
| Middlebrooks at third base. | 12 | 4 |
| Hoying in right field. | 12 | 4 |
| Gallo at first base. | 12 | 4 |
| Sánchez homered to center (461 feet). | 13 | 4 |
| Torreyes hit for Gregorius. | 13 | 4 |
| Torreyes grounded out to second. | 13 | 4 |
| Castro grounded out to shortstop. | 13 | 4 |
| Austin hit for Judge. | 13 | 4 |
| Austin walked. | 13 | 4 |
| Bird grounded out to first. | 13 | 4 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Texas - Bottom of 8th | SCORE | |
| Dellin Betances pitching for New York | NYY | TEX |
| Wade in left field. | 13 | 4 |
| Torreyes at shortstop. | 13 | 4 |
| Austin in right field. | 13 | 4 |
| Betances relieved Kahnle. | 13 | 4 |
| Robinson struck out swinging. | 13 | 4 |
| Rua walked. | 13 | 4 |
| DeShields walked, Rua to second. | 13 | 4 |
| Choo doubled to deep right center, Rua and DeShields scored. | 13 | 6 |
| Gosselin struck out looking. | 13 | 6 |
| Middlebrooks struck out looking. | 13 | 6 |
| 2 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Top of 9th | SCORE | |
| Tyson Ross pitching for Texas | NYY | TEX |
| Ellsbury walked. | 13 | 6 |
| Romine singled to left, Ellsbury to second. | 13 | 6 |
| Wade singled to center, Ellsbury scored, Romine to third. | 14 | 6 |
| Headley fouled out to third. | 14 | 6 |
| Kratz hit for Sánchez. | 14 | 6 |
| Kratz doubled to deep center, Romine and Wade scored. | 16 | 6 |
| Leclerc relieved Ross. | 16 | 6 |
| Torreyes struck out swinging. | 16 | 6 |
| Castro grounded out to shortstop. | 16 | 6 |
| 3 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Texas - Bottom of 9th | SCORE | |
| Caleb Smith pitching for New York | NYY | TEX |
| Smith relieved Betances. | 16 | 6 |
| Hoying popped out to third. | 16 | 6 |
| Jiménez popped out to second. | 16 | 6 |
| Nicholas hit for Gallo. | 16 | 6 |
| Nicholas walked. | 16 | 6 |
| Robinson doubled to deep left, Nicholas scored. | 16 | 7 |
| Rua struck out swinging. | 16 | 7 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York Yankees | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Gardner LF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14 | .258 | .348 | .426 |
Wade LF
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .151 | .224 | .226 |
| Headley 3B | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 31 | .278 | .358 | .427 |
| Sánchez DH | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 20 | .280 | .349 | .541 |
c-Kratz PH-DH
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 2.000 |
| Gregorius SS | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | .295 | .328 | .485 |
a-Torreyes PH-SS
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | .293 | .314 | .370 |
| Castro 2B | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | .304 | .341 | .468 |
| Judge RF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 20 | .277 | .411 | .583 |
b-Austin PH-RF
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .250 | .316 | .469 |
| Bird 1B | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | .147 | .254 | .265 |
| Ellsbury CF | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 23 | .258 | .340 | .396 |
| Romine C | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | .229 | .283 | .305 |
| Totals | 44 | 16 | 18 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 177 | |||
| a-grounded to second for D Gregorius in the 8th b-walked for A Judge in the 8th c-doubled to deep center for G Sanchez in the 9th | ||||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Gregorius (26, Griffin); Sánchez (16, Martínez); Ellsbury (14, Mendez); Romine (8, Mendez); Kratz (1, Ross) 3B: Gardner (4, Martínez) HR: Sánchez 2 (30, 1st inning off Griffin 0 on, 2 Out; 8th inning off Ross 0 on, 0 Out); Judge 2 (41, 4th inning off Martínez 0 on, 2 Out; 6th inning off Mendez 0 on, 1 Out) RBI: Sánchez 2 (83), Gregorius 4 (72), Judge 3 (90), Gardner 2 (56), Headley (59), Wade (2), Kratz 2 (2) SF: Judge 2-out RBI: Sánchez, Judge, Gregorius 2 GIDP: Castro Yankees RISP: 8-17 (Headley 1-3, Sánchez 0-1, Kratz 1-1, Bird 0-1, Gregorius 3-3, Torreyes 0-1, Wade 1-1, Romine 1-1, Castro 0-3, Gardner 1-2) Team LOB: 7 | ||||||||||
| FIELDING E: Castro (10, ground ball) PB: Romine. | ||||||||||
Game Notes
| 2B ODOR (SPRAINED LEFT ANKLE) LEFT GAME TOP 5TH |
Game Information
| Stadium | Globe Life Park in Arlington, Arlington, TX |
| Attendance | 31,349 (65.2% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 3:43 |
| Weather | 84 degrees, partly cloudy |
| Wind | 8 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Manny Gonzalez, First Base - Mark Carlson, Second Base - CB Bucknor, Third Base - Tim Timmons |
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