Judge hits 2nd HR of game in 11th, Yankees beat Rays 8-4
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Aaron Judge hit his second homer of the game leading off the 11th inning, Brett Gardner added a three-run shot and the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-4 on Friday night.
Judge connected on the first pitch from Ryne Stanek (0-2) to give him nine career multihomer games. The big slugger also went deep in the first against two-way player Brendan McKay as New York extended its AL East lead over Tampa Bay to a season-high 8 1/2 games.
Aaron Hicks tied it in the eighth with a pinch-hit homer for the Yankees, who used a five-run 10th to beat the Rays 8-4 on Thursday in the opener of a four-game series.
David Hale (2-0) left with two on and one out in the 11th. Aroldis Chapman, who blew a two-run lead in the ninth Thursday, walked Travis d’Arnaud with two outs but got a lineout from Tommy Pham to get his 24th save.
The Yankees got also got a pinch-hit homer from Aaron Hicks. Masahiro Tanaka, who entered 2-0 with an 0.41 ERA in three starts against the Rays this season, was charged with four runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings.
McKay allowed three runs and six hits over five innings in his second pitching start. The left-hander gave up one hit in six scoreless innings in his big league debut last Saturday, a win over Texas.
Nate Lowe hit his first major league homer and Mike Zunino also went deep for the Rays.
After replacing Tanaka with runners on first and third, Nestor Cortes Jr. gave up Kevin Kiermaier’s two-run single that gave Tampa Bay a 4-3 lead.
Hicks got the Yankees even in the eighth.
Judge, who faced McKay while on a rehab assignment for an oblique injury June 15 with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against Durham, hit a hard grounder that just missed the pitcher’s leg in the fourth. He struck out swinging on a 93 mph fastball from McKay with two on to end the fifth.
McKay got a grounder from Judge and struck him out in the minor league game.
HONORING CC
Yankees LHP CC Sabathia will be honored by Major League Baseball at Tuesday night’s All-Star Game in Cleveland. In the final season of his 19-year career, Sabathia will be recognized for his contributions to the game and longtime service to the community. “This is awesome,” said Sabathia, who started his big league career with the Indians in 2001.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: C Gary Sanchez was rested. He struck out as pinch-hitter in the 10th.
Rays: Kiermaier (sore left wrist) was out of the lineup the previous two games.
UP NEXT
Yankees: Sabathia (5-4) starts on 11 days’ rest Saturday. He is 1-0 with a 2.12 ERA in three outings against Tampa Bay this season.
Rays: AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell (5-7) allowed six runs over one-third of an inning in his last start against the Yankees on June 19 in New York.
