New York’s Aaron Judge, center, celebrates with relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman, second from left, after the Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays Wednesday night at St. Petersburg, Fla. Chris O’Meara/Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Aaron Judge went from being a late scratch to hitting a tie-breaking single in a two-run 10th inning as the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays for the second straight day, 3-1 on Wednesday night.
Judge was taken out of the lineup about 30 minutes before the scheduled first pitch. Although no announcement was made about why, the All-Star right fielder struck out in the fifth pinch hitting for Estevan Florial.
Judge returned to the team Tuesday after going on the COVID-19 injured list July 16.
Greg Allen was hit by a pitch from Pete Fairbanks (3-4) leading off the 10th, putting runners on first and second. Judge then grounded an RBI single to center field that just got by shortstop Wander Franco.
Fairbanks left with an apparent injury and was replaced by Andrew Kittredge, who threw a wild pitch that allowed another run to score as the Yankees went up 3-1.
Chad Green (4-5) pitched a perfect inning before Aroldis Chapman worked the 10th to get his 20th save in 24 chances. Four relievers combined for five hitless innings to complete a three-hitter for the Yankees.
Randy Arozarena drew a one-out walk from Chapman. Pinch-hitter Nelson Cruz struck out after Yandy Diaz and Arozarena both advanced on a wild pitch.
The game ended when first baseman DJ LeMahieu made a stumbling grab on Francisco Mejia’s infield popup.
TIGERS 17, TWINS 14: Jeimer Candelario and Eric Haase each drove in three runs and the Detroit Tigers, despite giving up seven homers and not hitting any, outlasted host Minnesota.
Detroit led 10-0 in the fourth.
After the Tigers scored eight times in the top of the fourth, Minnesota got six runs in the bottom half, highlighted by Ryan Jeffers’ grand slam.
Down 13-6, the Twins scored six more in the eighth on Miguel Sano’s second homer of the game and drives by Max Kepler, Brent Rooker and Jeffers.
Haase’s three-run double in the ninth gave the Tigers another cushion. Jorge Polanco hit a two-run homer in the Twins ninth.
The Tigers posted their highest run total of the season and won their second straight game, assuring themselves of at least a .500 finish for the month of July. Since going 8-19 in April, Detroit is nearing its third straight winning month.
Derek Holland (2-2) pitched a scoreless inning for the Tigers.
J.A. Happ (5-6) was tagged for nine runs on 10 hits and four walks in three innings. Since posting a 1.91 ERA through his first five starts, Happ has given up 68 earned runs in 70 innings (8.74 ERA).
ASTROS 11, MARINERS 4: Yuli Gurriel singled, doubled and homered to drive in three runs and lead Houston won a win at Seattle.
It was the 13th time this season Gurriel has had at least three hits. Carlos Correa also had three hits and Kyle Tucker homered for the Astros, who have won 7 of 9.
Starter Jake Odorizzi (4-5) gave up three runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings. He didn’t give up a hit until the fourth inning, and held Seattle scoreless through five before allowing a couple of home runs.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
METS 2, BRAVES 1: Pinch-hitter Brandon Drury delivered a tie-breaking homer in the seventh inning and right fielder Michael Conforto threw out a runner at the plate in the ninth to preserve New York’s win at home.
The first-place Mets have maintained their five-game lead on the third-place Braves in the NL East by splitting the first four games of the five-game series.
Drury, batting for reliever Trevor May, hit Max Fried’s 1-0 pitch well into the left-field seats for his fourth pinch-hit homer of the season, tying him for the major league lead with the Braves’ Pablo Sandoval.
BREWERS 7, PIRATES 3: Lorenzo Cain and Luis Urias hit two-run doubles, Adrian Houser pitched five scoreless innings and Milwaukee won at Pittsburgh.
Cain’s hit in the fourth inning pushed the Brewers’ lead to 3-0. Urias’ double came during a three-run sixth that made it 6-0.
Pirates rookie Rodolfo Castro became the first player in major league history to have his first five hits all be home runs after hitting two more long balls on Wednesday. Castro surpassed the mark set by Trevor Story in 2016 with the Colorado Rockies.
INTERLEAGUE
INDIANS 7, CARDINALS 2: Franmil Reyes homered twice, including a second-inning blast that bounced out of Progressive Field and almost dinged a bicyclist pedaling on a street next to the park, and Cleveland beat St. Louis.
Reyes’ leadoff homer in the glanced off the pedestrian bridge in left field and landed on the plaza area between the ballpark and Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. The ball traveled an estimated 446 feet.
Reyes wasn’t done. He finished off Cleveland’s three-homer inning in the third with his 19th of the season, a 421-foot drive to center.
Cesar Hernandez and Jose Ramirez also homered in the inning for Cleveland, which avoided dropping under .500 for the first time since May 1. Hernandez’s two-run homer gave Cleveland a 3-2 lead. He had a sacrifice fly in the fourth.
ATHLETICS 10, PADRES 4: Sean Manaea took a perfect game into the sixth inning and Matt Chapman hit a three-run homer to carry Oakland to a win at San Diego.
Manaea (8-6) kept the Padres off the basepaths until he walked former Athletics player Jurickson Profar with one out in the sixth. Pinch-hitter Eric Hosmer then lofted a a bloop single to shallow center to end Manaea’s bid for a second career no-hitter. The left-hander no-hit the Boston Red Sox on April 21, 2018.
Elvis Andrus had three hits and two RBI for the A’s, who split the two-game series.
DIAMONDBACKS 3, RANGERS 2: Madison Bumgarner pitched four-hit ball over seven innings to win for the first time in 2 1/2 months and visting Arizona beat Texas.
David Peralta and Daulton Varsho hit solo home runs for the Diamondbacks, who won despite getting only three hits. They won for only the fourth time in the 25 one-run games they have played this season.
Bumgarner (5-6), who will turn 32 on Sunday, threw 61 of his 84 pitches for strikes in his first win since May 11. He had four strikeouts and one walk.
ORIOLES 8, MARLINS 7: Ryan McKenna drew a bases-loaded walk from Steven Okert to force in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning, and Baltimore got home runs from Trey Mancini and Pedro Severino in a comeback win at home.
Baltimore erased an early 5-0 deficit and battled back from a 7-5 hole in the eighth to end Miami’s modest three-game winning streak.
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