NEW YORK — Luke Voit and Aaron Hicks homered to key a seven-run second-inning burst made possible when right fielder Derek Fisher misplayed a pair of flyballs, and the New York Yankees rocketed past the Toronto Blue Jays into second place in the AL East with a 20-6 blowout Tuesday night that extended their winning streak to six.
Voit homered twice, raising his major league-leading total to 18, and had five RBI for the Yankees, who have rebounded following a 5-15 stretch and put themselves back on track to reach the expanded playoffs. New York (27-21) and Toronto (26-21) started a stretch of seven games against each other in the final two weeks of the season.
DJ LeMahieu had four hits and five RBI, raising his average 13 points to .363, LeMahieu homered on a 48.7 mph offering from infielder Santiago Espinal leading off eighth, the slowest pitch hit for a home run since MLB started tracking in 2008.
LeMahieu, batting leadoff, and Voit, hitting behind him, combined to mark the first time in Yankees history both the No. 1 and 2 hitters had five RBI in the same game.
Gary Sanchez hit a three-run homer off Anthony Kay and Clint Frazier had a two-run shot against Ryan Borucki.
Giancarlo Stanton and Gio Urshela returned from the injured list for the Yankees, who expect to get Aaron Judge back Wednesday or Thursday.
Stanton was 0 for 4 with a walk as the designated hitter, the only Yankees starter without a hit, after missing 32 games because of a strained left hamstring. Urshela had three hits and made several sparking defensive plays at third after missing 11 games with a right elbow bone spur.
But Gleyber Torres was out with a left quadriceps issue and New York Manager Aaron Boone said James Paxton had not yet started to throw in his rehabilitation of a strained left flexor tendon, a sign the left-hander may not return this season.
Rookie Deivi Garcia (2-1) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings.
New York scored its most runs since a 20-6 win at Atlanta on Aug. 30, 2015. The Yankees batted around in the second, third and fourth innings, the first time they achieved the feat in three consecutive innings since doing it from the fifth through eighth innings in a 22-9 rout of Oakland on Aug. 25, 2011, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
RAYS 6, NATIONALS 1: Ryan Yarbrough stopped a personal 16-game winless streak, Nate Lowe homered and AL East-leading Tampa Bay beat visiting Washington .
Yarbrough (1-3) followed opener John Curtiss in the second inning and gave up one run and five hits over 5 2/3 innings for his first win since Aug 11, 2019 at Seattle.
Nick Anderson replaced Ryan Sherriff with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth and struck out Luis Garcia and pinch-hitter Yadiel Hernandez to get this fifth save.
REDS 4, PIRATES 1: Tucker Barnhart hit a home run and Brian Goodwin prevented one with a leaping catch as host Cincinnati extended its winning streak to a season-high four.
PHILLIES 4, METS 1: Jake Arrieta pitched effectively into the sixth inning before leaving with an injury, Didi Gregorius hit a two-run homer and Philadelphia won at home.
The scuffling Mets played their first game since billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen agreed to buy the team from the Wilpon and Katz families. The agreement was announced Monday and the deal is subject to the approval of Major League Baseball owners.
Arrieta (4-4) allowed one run on Brandon Nimmo’s homer and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. But he walked off the mound, grabbing the back of his right leg, after hitting Andres Gimenez with a pitch to load the bases. JoJo Romero entered and retired Wilson Ramos on a double-play grounder, with first baseman Alec Bohm making an excellent pick on his backhand.
TIGERS 6, ROYALS 0: Miguel Cabrera hit a homer and a double to help Detroit win at home.
BRAVES 5, ORIOLES 1: Adam Duvall tied a Braves record with his 10th homer in September, and Atlanta used the collective work of six pitchers to win at Baltimore.
Freddie Freeman had three hits, including a pair of RBI doubles, to help the Braves bounce back from a 14-1 drubbing by Baltimore one night earlier.
BREWERS 18, CARDINALS 3: Christian Yelich broke out of his slump with a home run and three hits, Ryan Braun also went deep and Milwaukee cruised to a win at home.
Keston Hiura and Daniel Vogelbach also homered for the Brewers.
Well after the game was out of hand, both managers were ejected following a catcher’s interference call on Yadier Molina that led to a tense confrontation in front of the Brewers’ dugout.
ASTROS 4, RANGERS 1: George Springer and Martin Maldonado homered, Alex Bregman hit a go-ahead two-run single in the seventh inning and Houston won at home.
NOTES
GIANTS-MARINERS: The two-game series between the San Francisco Giants and Mariners in Seattle that was scheduled to start Tuesday night was postponed because of poor air quality caused by the West Coast wildfires.
The teams will now play Wednesday and Thursday at Oracle Park in San Francisco, with game times to be determined.
The announcement came as forecasters called for smoke to reach very unhealthy levels in Western Washington through at least Thursday.
ASTROS: Shortstop Carlos Correa had to be helped off the field after fouling a ball off his left ankle or foot Tuesday night.
Correa was batting with one out in the sixth inning against the Texas Rangers when he fouled the ball. He immediately fell to the ground and was in significant pain as team officials came to check on him.
He was soon helped to his feet and put his arms around two people as he was helped off the field without putting any weight on his left leg.
There was no immediate update on Correa’s injury.
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