LOS ANGELES (AP) — Aaron Judge hit his 19th homer and made an outstanding catch in the corner in right, Jake Bauers had a pair of two-run homers and Gerrit Cole stayed unbeaten with six innings of four-hit ball before leaving early in the New York Yankees’ 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.
Judge put a line drive into the short left-field porch in the sixth inning for the Yankees, who rebounded from an 8-4 loss Friday night in the opener of the high-profile interleague series.
The AL MVP then hung onto J.D. Martinez’s line drive in the eighth inning despite knocking open the door to Dodger Stadium’s visiting bullpen at the end of his sprint into the right field corner. The play might have prevented a run or more for the Dodgers, who trailed 5-3 with Max Muncy on first when Judge came up big.
“I’m feeling good,” Judge said. “The fence got most of it. Thankfully it was that part of the wall where it had some give, so I think that saved me quite a bit. If it was a solid wall, it might be a different story, but (I) made the play.”
Oswaldo Cabrera hit a solo homer in the ninth for the Yankees, who have won five of seven. Cabrera began the day with a cross-country flight from Newark to rejoin the roster in place of injured Greg Allen.
Cole (7-0) was sharp back in his native Southern California, striking out five with two walks and only allowing a run on David Peralta’s bloop RBI single. The Yankees pulled Cole after a season-low 80 pitches because the ace’s legs cramped up.
“It was tough,” Cole said. “I guess it was just one of those days. Tough work, tough lineup making me execute a lot of pitches. So we managed it well, but getting into the later innings, didn’t want to risk anything.”
After Cole left, four straight batters immediately reached base in the seventh against Wandy Peralta and Michael King. Pinch-hitter Miguel Vargas got an RBI triple and Miguel Rojas added a run-scoring single before King retired the Dodgers’ 1-2-3 hitters.
After King provided two innings of one-hit relief, Clay Holmes pitched the ninth for his sixth save.
Martinez’s 16-game hit streak ended for the Dodgers, who lost at home for just the third time in 17 games since late April. Vargas’ triple was Los Angeles’ only extra-base hit.
The Dodgers attracted their largest crowd of the year for the second straight night, welcoming 52,975 fans to Chavez Ravine. The Yankees fans in attendance saw impressive work from two superstars — and an unlikely power contribution from Bauers, a journeyman first baseman and outfielder who spent last season entirely in the minors.
The Orange County native came through with his first career multi-homer game by connecting twice off Michael Grove (0-2) to stake New York to a 4-1 lead with homers in the second and fourth innings.
“Obviously, with your parents and your wife and her parents and everybody in the stands, you want to have a good game,” Bauers said. “But it was something that I wasn’t really expecting, to be honest with you.”
Grove yielded four runs on four hits with seven strikeouts over five innings for the Dodgers in his first start since going on the injured list April 21 with a groin strain. Los Angeles is desperate for pitching with three frontline starters injured, and Grove was sharp — except for two big mistakes to Bauers.
Judge’s homer off Shelby Miller in the sixth traveled only 360 feet, but the AL MVP’s 113.7-mph line drive got into the low stands before Peralta could attempt to make a play on it.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: Giancarlo Stanton got a day off after homering in his first game since April 15. Josh Donaldson, who hit two homers Friday in his own first game since April, will get Sunday off. … Allen (hip flexor) went on the 10-day injured list and RHP Ryan Weber (right forearm strain) went on the 15-day IL. LHP Nick Ramirez and Cabrera came up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Dodgers: RHP Phil Bickford went on the 15-day injured list with lower back tightness. RHP Tayler Scott came up from Triple-A Oklahoma City and made his Dodgers debut in the eighth, throwing 1 2/3 scoreless innings. … LHP Julio Urías threw off the mound pregame. He will throw a simulated game Tuesday in Cincinnati, and could rejoin the rotation after that. He has been out since May 18 with a hamstring strain.
UP NEXT
Bobby Miller (2-0, 1.64 ERA) makes his third career start in his auspicious stint as a fill-in member of the Dodgers’ injury-plagued rotation. New York counters with Domingo Germán (3-3, 3.98) on five days’ rest.
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