A three-run third inning fueled by Aaron Judge’s 53rd home run of the season sparked the New York Yankees to a 5-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium to ensure a series win — three wins in four —in their rivalry series.
After going 16 games without a home run, Judge now has two in his last three games — a good sign for the Yankees (87-63) with 12 games to go in the regular season as they take a three-game lead atop the American League East following the Baltimore Orioles’ loss to the Detroit Tigers.
Up 2-0 in the third inning and just two batters after Gleyber Torres hit his 14th home run of the season, a solo shot to right, Judge drove home Soto and himself with a 445-foot moonshot to center field that bounced off the windows of the restaurant beyond Monument Park.
Giancarlo Stanton opened the scoring for the Yankees in the second off Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford when he lined an RBI double to left, which scored Jazz Chisholm.
Yankees starter Carlos Rodon allowed two runs on six hits in 5.1 innings of work with five strikeouts and two walks. All of his damage, though, came in the top of the fourth inning when he gave up a two-run home run to Tyler O’Neill to halve the New York lead.
Rodon proceeded to yield back-to-back singles to get back into a major jam with one out in the frame, but he struck out Trevor Story and got Danny Jansen to ground out to escape. He then got out of a first-and-third jam in the fifth by striking out O’Neill.
Stanton picked up his second RBI of the afternoon in the seventh with a sacrifice fly to put the Yankees up three.
Reliever Jake Cousins provided some last-minute anxiety in the ninth inning when he hit Story and walked Wilyer Abreu to put the tying run in Jarren Duran up to bat. But after Cousins was pulled for Tommy Kahnle, Duran grounded into a game-ending double play.
