NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge went homerless for the fourth straight game and remained one shy of Roger Maris’ American League record of 61 as the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 7-5 on Saturday to close in on their first AL East title since 2019.
Judge was 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and a walk. Since hitting No. 60 to spark a ninth-inning comeback on Tuesday night, Judge is 3 for 13 with two doubles, five walks and six strikeouts.
He made a rare showing of anger on the field in the seventh when first base umpire Chris Conroy ruled he had not checked his swing and had struck out. Judge gestured at the umpire and then waved in disgust while walking back to the dugout.
Anthony Rizzo followed with a two-run homer off John Schreiber (3-4) that broke a 5-5 tie. Rizzo tied his career high, reaching 32 for the fourth time.
The Yankees (93-58) have won six straight and 10 of 12, surpassing last year’s wins total and opening an 8 1/2-game division lead. They have 11 games remaining, finishing a four-game series Sunday and then heading to Toronto for three games.
Judge also took a called third strike in the first from Nick Pivetta, flied to medium center in the third and walked in the fifth. He was on deck when Jose Trevino ended the eighth with a groundout.
Xander Bogaerts went 2 for 4 and took over the AL batting lead with a .315 average to Judge’s .314. Judge leads the major leagues with 128 RBIs and is in contention for the first Triple Crown since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012.
Oswaldo Cabrera hit a two-run homer in the fourth against Pivetta, the rookie’s fourth since his Aug. 17 debut, and Gleyber Torres hit his 24th homer of the season.
Triston Casas and Reese McGuire homered for Boston in the second against Domingo Germán, who allowed three runs and three…