Judge blasts 48th homer, Yankees shut out Guardians on one-hitter
Aaron Judge hit his major league-best 48th homer and homered for the third straight game as the host New York Yankees recorded a 6-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday afternoon.
Judge hit his latest homer when he lifted a 2-1 changeup into the right-field seats off Cleveland starter Gavin Williams (2-6) to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the fourth.
It was Judge’s sixth homer in his past seven games along with his 13th in his past 24 contests. It marked the third time Judge homered in three straight games this season.
The Yankees padded their lead in the fifth against Williams and reliever Nick Sandlin after Judge drew his 16th intentional walk of the season.
With runners at first and second after Juan Soto avoided hitting into a double play, Judge saw two pitches from Sandlin before getting put on to load the bases.
Austin Wells made it 2-0 by lining a sacrifice fly to center field to score rookie Ben Rice. Giancarlo Stanton extended the lead to 5-0 by lifting a full-count offering over the center-field fence for his 21st homer and 423rd career homer.
Gerrit Cole (5-2) allowed one hit in six innings and survived tying a career-worst by allowing five walks to become the fourth active pitcher to reach 150 career wins. Cole, who allowed a single to Steven Kwan on the game’s second pitch, joined Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw on the active pitcher list.
Cole stranded Kwan at third by retiring Josh Naylor to end the first, retired Naylor with two on to end the third and got a double play on rookie Jhonkensy Noel to end the sixth after issuing consecutive walks.
Rice added a sacrifice fly in the eighth as the Yankees won for the 15th time in their past 23 games following a 10-23 skid from June 15-July 26.
Cleveland fell to 6-12
in its past 18 games since holding a six-game lead atop the AL Central following its 8-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Aug. 2. The Guardians were one-hit for the second time this season and blanked for the 13th time.
Nationals 8, Rockies 3: Patrick Corbin recorded a season-high eight strikeouts across six strong innings as host Washington topped Colorado in the rubber match of a three-game series. Corbin (3-12) allowed just one run on four hits while walking one to earn his 100th career win and first since July 19. He had gone 0-3 with an 8.51 ERA over his previous five starts.
Cardinals 3, Brewers
0: Miles Mikolas and three relievers combined on a three-hitter as St. Louis blanked visiting Milwaukee. Mikolas allowed two hits in six innings. He struck out three and walked one. Nolan Arenado hit an RBI single and extended his on-base streak to 21 games as the Cardinals won two of three in the series. Victor Scott II went 3 for 4 and scored a run, and Alec Burleson went 2 for 2 with two walks and a run.
Cubs 10, Tigers 2:
Miguel Amaya went 3 for 4 with a grand slam and five RBI to lead host
Chicago over Detroit in the rubber game of their three-game series. It was the first grand slam of Amaya’s two-year career and his sixth home run of the season. Dansby Swanson went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases. two runs scored and an RBI for Chicago, which won for the fourth time in its past six games.
FORMER REDS STAR VOTTO RETIRES
Joey Votto, a six-time All-Star and former MVP during his 17 major league seasons as a first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds, announced his retirement on Wednesday via Instagram.
“I was myself in this sport,” Votto wrote in part of his Instagram post. “I was able to be my best self. I played this sport with every last ounce of my body, heart, and mind.”
Votto, 40, had been attempting to make a big-league comeback through the Toronto Blue Jays’ minor league system. He hit just .165 with a .569 on-base-plusslugging percentage in 31 games this season across three minor league levels for his hometown team.
“Toronto + Canada, I wanted to play in front of you. Sigh, I tried with all my heart to play for my people,” Votto wrote.
“I’m just not good anymore. Thank you for all the support during my attempt.”
Votto signed a minor league contract with Toronto in March after finishing out a 12-year, $251.5 million deal with Cincinnati last year.
The left-handed-hitting Votto batted .294 with 356 home runs, 1,144 RBI and a .920 OPS over 2,056 games for the Reds after being picked in the second round of the 2002 draft.
He made his major league debut in 2007 and was named National League MVP in 2010, one of two seasons in which Cincinnati won the NL Central during Votto’s tenure. Votto won his lone Gold Glove Award in 2011.
ELSEWHERE Dodgers:
Los Angeles activated right-handed reliever Blake Treinen from the injured list. Treinen, 36, last pitched on Aug. 4 and was placed on the 15-day IL the following day with left hip discomfort. He struck out all three batters he faced during a rehab assignment on Saturday at Double-A Tulsa. Treinen is 5-3 with a 2.67 ERA in 34 relief appearances this season for the Dodgers.
Mariners: Seattle fired manager Scott Servais and replaced him with Dan Wilson, the team’s starting catcher in the 1990s, The Athletic reported Thursday. Servais and Seattle fans have seen the Mariners’ lead in the American League West, which stood at 10 games on June 18, erased. The team now is five games behind the Houston Astros in the division and 7.5 games out of the final wild-card spot. Servais, 57, took over as the Mariners manager in 2016 and has a 680-642 record.
Angels:
Los Angeles and general manager Perry Minasian reached an agreement on a contract extension, multiple outlets reported Thursday. Minasian is nearing the end of his initial four-year deal with the team, signed in November of 2020. The team has not been competitive during Minasian’s four-year run, following up a 77-85 record in his debut campaign in 2021 with 73-89 finishes in 2022 and 2023.