Aaron Judge hit his major league-best 48th homer as the host New York Yankees recorded a 6-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday afternoon.
Judge homered for the third straight game when he lifted a 2-1 changeup into the right field seats off Guardians 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.
The Yankees’ Gerrit Cole (5-2) allowed one hit in six innings and survived tying a career-worst 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.
Williams allowed three runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings. Williams struck out five, walked four and was lifted after Juan Soto hit into a forceout ahead of Giancarlo Stanton’s 21st homer of the season.
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.
Brenton Doyle spoiled Corbin’s shutout bid with a two-out solo shot in the top of the sixth to pull the Rockies within 2-1.
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. Andrew Kittredge (2-4), JoJo Romero and Ryan Helsley pitched an inning each to complete the shutout. Helsley earned his 39th save.
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. Brewers starting pitcher Freddy Peralta held the Cards scoreless for five innings on three hits and two walks.
Pirates 7, Reds 0
Paul Skenes threw six shutout innings to help Pittsburgh to a shutout win against visiting Cincinnati in the opener of their four-game series.
Skenes (8-2) limited the Reds to two hits in the 17th start of his rookie season. The right-hander struck out nine and walked one on 87 pitches. Bryan De La Cruz had three hits and three RBIs, Bryan Reynolds had two hits, an RBI and a run scored and Yasmani Grandal homered for the Pirates, who had lost three of four.
Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo (9-6) breezed through the first four innings before running into trouble in the six-run fifth. He allowed five runs on just two hits, struck out nine and walked three in 4 2/3 innings.
Blue Jays 5, Angels 3
Ernie Clement keyed a five-run second inning with a two-run home run and Toronto defeated visiting Los Angeles.
Clement homered in his third consecutive game and the Blue Jays homered in their 11th straight game. Niko Kavadas hit a three-run homer for his first major league hit in the ninth and Jo Adell added three hits for the Angels.
Both teams used an opener. Angels left-hander Brock Burke (1-1) allowed three runs and three hits in one-plus inning. Toronto right-hander Ryan Burr allowed two hits and a walk in one-plus inning. Toronto left-hander Ryan Yarbrough (5-2) tossed five scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out four to earn the win.
Cubs 10, Tigers 2
Miguel Amaya went 3-for-4 with a grand slam and five RBIs 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. Nico Hoerner also went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored for the Cubs, who won for the fourth time in their past six games.
Spencer Torkelson homered and Colt Keith had two hits and a run scored for the Tigers. Kenta Maeda (2-6), taking over the bulk role after Tyler Holton pitched a 1-2-3 first as the opener, took the loss, yielding six runs on nine hits over five innings.
Athletics 3, Rays 1
Osvaldo Bido allowed just two hits in five-plus innings, Darell Hernaiz contributed to a two-run second with the first of his two doubles and Oakland split its four-game home series against Tampa Bay.
Lawrence Butler collected two hits, a run and an RBI for the A’s. Bido (5-3) won his third straight start despite allowing his first run in that stretch. That came in the fourth when Jose Caballero’s two-out double scored Christopher Morel, who had singled.
The second-year right-hander then retired the next four batters he faced before walking Brandon Lowe to lead off the sixth, prompting Bido’s removal with a 3-1 lead. Four Oakland relievers shut down Tampa Bay the rest of the way.
Braves 3, Phillies 2
Rookie Spencer Schwellenbach continued his mastery of visiting Philadelphia, pitching Atlanta to a win in the rubber game of their three-game series.
The victory allowed the Braves to cut Philadelphia’s lead in the National League East to six games. Schwellenbach (5-6) pitched 6 2/3 innings and allowed two runs on three hits — retiring 18 straight batters at one point — with one walk and nine strikeouts.
In two starts against Philadelphia, Schwellenbach has pitched 12 2/3 innings and allowed three runs with 15 strikeouts. Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez (9-9) threw six innings and allowed three runs on nine hits, one walk and eight strikeouts.
Astros 6, Orioles 0
Rookie Spencer Arrighetti threw six shutout innings and Houston newcomer Ben Gamel had a pair of run-scoring hits in a victory against host Baltimore.
Arrighetti (6-11) held the Orioles to three hits and one walk with six strikeouts. Shawn Dubin worked two innings and Caleb Ferguson threw in the ninth to complete the combined three-hitter in the opener of a four-game series between American League playoff contenders.
Shay Whitcomb provided a two-run single while Gamel came through at the plate in his Astros debut. Before Thursday, Gamel — a veteran of more than 700 games — had played in only 24 games across a two-season span.
