TORONTO (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton hit a three-run home run, Aaron Judge homered and drove in two runs and the New York Yankees extended their lead atop the AL wild card standings by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 7-2 Tuesday night.
Gio Urshela added a solo homer and Anthony Rizzo had a pair of hits and drove in a run as New York (90-67) won its seventh straight and moved two games in front of Boston (88-69) in the wild card race with five games left. The Yankees took another injury hit when Jameson Taillon reinjured his ankle and left in the third inning.
Toronto (87-70) dropped three games behind the Yankees but remains a game behind Boston for the second wild card.
Stanton homered for the fourth straight game when he connected off right-hander Trevor Richards with two out in the seventh, driving the ball into the second deck in left. The homer was his 35th.
Stanton went 2 for 5 with a double. He’s batting .304 with 10 home runs and 25 RBI in 92 at bats this month.
Stanton became the first Yankees player with 13 or more RBIs in a four-game span in September since Paul O’Neill did it in 1999. It’s also the most RBIs in any four game span for Stanton in his 12-year career.
He became the seventh Yankees player with a pair of four-game homer streaks in a season after Babe Ruth (1930), Lou Gehrig (’31), Joe DiMaggio (’37), Yogi Berra (’56), Roger Maris (’61) and Alex Rodriguez (’07).
Judge’s solo homer off left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu (13-10) in the third gave the Yankees at least one home run in 19 consecutive games, extending their season-high streak. Judge’s homer was his 37th.
Urshela hit his 14th homer off Anthony Castro in the ninth.
Judge started in right field after dislocating his left pinky sliding into second base in Sunday night’s win at Boston. He went 2 for 2 with two walks and a sacrifice fly.
Activated off the injured list Monday after missing 19 games because of a right ankle injury, Taillon left one out into the third after aggravating the same injury. Taillon motioned the trainer out of the dugout and walked off following a brief discussion. He was replaced by right-hander Michael King.
Taillon allowed one run and one hit in 2 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out two.
King (1-4) gave up one run in 2 2/3 innings for the second victory of his three-year big league career.
Clay Holmes pitched around a pair of walks in the sixth, Chad Green and Luis Severino each worked one perfect inning and Wandy Perlata finished.
Ryu allowed three runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings, leaving after Rizzo’s tying single. Adam Cimber came on and gave up Judge’s go-ahead sacrifice fly, making it 3-2.
Ryu was activated off the 10-day injured list before the game after being out since Sept. 17 because of a sore neck. He went 2-4 with an 8.10 ERA in the eight starts prior to his injury.
Bo Bichette hit an RBI single off Taillon in the first and scored on Corey Dickerson’s RBI double off King in the third, but Toronto couldn’t hold on. The Blue Jays have lost five of eight.
DRAWING A CROWD
Toronto drew 28,769 in its first home game since capacity at Rogers Centre was doubled from 15,000 to 30,000.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays OF Lourdes Gurriel Jr. returned to the lineup after missing the past three games. Gurriel needed two stitches to close a cut on the back of his right hand after being stepped on by teammate Randal Grichuk. Gurriel went 0 for 4, grounding out to end the game. … Toronto activated INF Cavan Biggio (back tightness) off the 10-day injured list. The Blue Jays optioned LHPs Kirby Snead and Ryan Borucki to Triple-A to make space for Ryu and Biggio.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays RHP José Berríos (12-9, 3.48) starts Wednesday against Yankees RHP Gerrit Cole (16-8, 3.08). Cole beat Boston last Friday for his AL-leading 16th win.
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