Aaron Judge homers for league-leading 53 and the Yankees beat Boston 5-2

Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 53rd homer, and the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 5-2 on Sunday to open a three-game AL East lead over second-place Baltimore.

Judge, whose 132 RBIs also top the major leagues, homered twice in three games followed a career-high 16-game homerless streak and helped Carlos Rodón get his career-best 15th win.

New York (87-63) took three of four from the Red Sox and headed on the road for a seven-game trip to Seattle and Oakland on the verge of clinching a postseason berth after failing to reach the playoffs last year for the first time since 2016.

Tyler O´Neill hit a two-run homer for the Red Sox (75-75), who dropped 4 1/2 games behind Minnesota (79-70) for the final AL wild card spot.

Wearing No. 21 on Roberto Clemente Day, Judge hit a two-run shot in a three-run third off Kutter Crawford (8-15) on 0-1 fastball. The 445-foot drive soared onto the netting above Monument Park behind center field for a 4-0 lead.

BLUE JAYS 3, CARDINALS 2

New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge, right, celebrates with Juan Soto, front, and Jasson Dominguez (89) after a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Nathan Lukes drove in the winning run with a double in the eighth inning as Toronto beat St. Louis to complete a three-game sweep.

Pinch hitter George Springer singled off right-hander Andrew Kittredge (4-5) with one out in the eighth and Lukes followed with an RBI double into the left field corner.

Davis Schneider added a two-run home run, his second homer in two games, to help the Blue Jays sweep their fifth series of the season.

Right-hander Zach Pop (2-4) retired Nolan Arenado, the only batter he faced, for the final out of the eighth. Righty Chad Green stranded two runners in the ninth to earn his 17th save in 20 chances.

TIGERS 4, ORIOLES 2

DETROIT (AP) – Riley Greene homered twice and drove in three runs, and Detroit beat Baltimore to take two of three from the Orioles.

Greene hit a two-run homer with two outs in the third off Cade Povich (2-9) and a solo drive in the eighth against Gregory Soto. Greene leads the Tigers with 23 homers. He hit both homers off left-handers after entering the day batting .203 with four homers against lefties.

Detroit (77-73), which began the day 2 1/2 games behind Minnesota for the last AL wild card, has won six of eight.

Baltimore (84-64) dropped its second straight series and scored just six runs in the three games. The Orioles, who have lost six of eight, started the day two games back of the AL East-leading Yankees but in position for the top AL wild card.

TWINS 9, REDS 2

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Rookie Brooks Lee drove had five RBIs, Carlos Santana went 3 for 4 with a two-run homer and Minnesota rallied to beat Cincinnati for just their fourth win in 12 games.

Ryan Jeffers had two hits and two runs for the Twins, who scored eight times n the sixth and seventh innings to avoid a three-game sweep.

Minnesota (79-70) maintained a 2 1/2-game lead over Detroit (77-73) for the last AL wild card spot. The Twins play at Cleveland on Monday, starting a seven-game trip that ends in Boston.

Cole Sands (8-1) allowed one hit in two scoreless innings, as did Jorge Alcala, who struck out four.

GUARDIANS 2, RAYS 0

CLEVELAND (AP) – Ben Lively and four relievers combined on a four-hitter, Brayan Rocchio had an RBI single for the go-ahead run and AL Central-leading Cleveland beat Tampa Bay.

Cade Smith, Tim Herrin, Hunter Gaddis and Emmanuel Clase wrapped up Cleveland´s 12th shutout. Clase finished for his career-high 45th save, taking over the major league lead from St. Louis´ Ryan Helsley and moving within one of tying Jose Mesa´s franchise record.

Lively (12-9) worked five-plus innings in his best start in seven weeks, giving up two hits in the first and two in the sixth. The right-hander struck out two, helping the Guardians reduce their magic number for clinching a playoff berth to four.

Rocchio singled in Daniel Schneemann in the second, putting the Guardians ahead 1-0. They added a run in the fourth when Angel Martínez scored on a delayed double-steal attempt, despite José Ramírez being thrown out at second base.

NATIONALS 4, MARLINS 3

WASHINGTON (AP) – Rookie James Wood homered twice, MacKenzie Gore pitched six innings of two-hit ball as Washington defeated Miami.

Washington won the last three in the four-game series and finished 11-2 against the Marlins this season.

Jonah Bride homered for Miami, which clinched a last-place finish in the NL East for the first time since 2019. The Marlins dropped six of seven on its road trip to Pittsburgh and Washington.

It was the first multi-homer game for Wood. He ripped a 435-foot shot to center with two outs in the fifth inning off Miami starter Adam Oller, then led off the eighth against Declan Cronin with a 426-foot blast to left-center.

PHILLIES 2, METS 1

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – J.T. Realmuto hit a game-ending single off Edwin Díaz with two outs in the ninth inning, and Philadelphia rallied late for the second straight day to beat New York.

Tyrone Taylor homered in the eighth against Cristopher Sánchez but Buddy Kennedy tied the score in the bottom half off David Peterson, who pitched a season-high 7 2/3 innings.

Nick Castellanos singled with one out in the ninth against Díaz (5-4) and stole second as Alec Bohm struck out. Down 0-2 in the count, Realmuto lined a 99.5 mph fastball over the high, outside corner to right-center for his sixth career walk-off hit.

New York (81-68) began the day tied for the final NL wild card spot with Atlanta (81-67), which played at the Los Angeles Dodgers later Sunday. The Mets, who wasted a 4-0 lead Saturday, lost for just the fourth time in their last 16 games.

PIRATES 4, ROYALS 3

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Isiah Kiner-Falefa had three hits, including a go-ahead single in the fifth inning, as Pittsburgh avoided a three-game sweep with a win over Kansas City.

Billy Cook lined a single to left to start the fifth and scored from first on a hit and run when Kiner-Falefa shot one to center past a diving Bobby Witt Jr. at short to put the Pirates ahead 3-2. Kiner-Falefa also singled in the first and sixth innings.

Kansas City´s Brady Singer (9-11), who gave up four runs on six hits and four walks with six strikeouts in five innings, later walked Rowdy Tellez with the bases loaded to bring the Pittsburgh lead to 4-2.

Carmen Mlodzinski (3-5) pitched a perfect fifth inning in relief of Pirates starter Jared Jones, who allowed two runs and six hits in the first four. Aroldis Chapman struck out one in a perfect ninth for his ninth save.

WHITE SOX 4, ATHLETICS 3

CHICAGO (AP) – Chicago won back-to-back games for the first time in nearly three months, beating Oakland behind home runs from Gavin Sheets and Bryan Ramos to end a streak of 20 consecutive series losses.

A day after scoring in the ninth to win 7-6 and stop a 16-game home losing streak, the White Sox took a 3-0 first-inning lead and strung together wins for the first time since three in a row against Atlanta and Colorado from June 27-29. Chicago hadn´t won a series since taking two of three from the Rockies.

Chicago is 35-115 with 12 games left and is trying to avoid the post-1900 record of 120 losses by the 1962 expansion New York Mets. The White Sox are 20-58 at home, one shy of the post-1900 mark for home losses shared by the 1939 St. Louis Browns and 2019 Detroit Tigers.

Sean Burke (1-0) allowed two runs and five in five innings. The 24-year-old right-hander, making his first big league start and second appearance, struck out five and walked two.