NEW YORK — Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer in the first inning, one pitch after starter Joe Boyle was called for a balk, and the New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics 7-3 on Wednesday.
Anthony Rizzo and Juan Soto also hit home runs for the Yankees, who recorded their fifth victory in the last seven games and improved to 10-1 in their most recent 11 games against Oakland in the Bronx.
Judge seemed to receive the third strike, and was heading to the dugout, when Boyle’s balk (1-4) was scored.
Then, Judge found a fastball that was out, and sent the ball into the right field porch for 261 home runs, which allowed him to pass former captain Derek Jeter for ninth place on the Yankees’ all-time list.
After hitting his fourth home run, Judge singled in the third inning. It was the slugger’s fourth multi-hit game this season and his first since April 13.
The victory went to Clarke Schmidt (2-0), who allowed three runs and four hits in five and a third innings.
For the Athletics, Venezuelan Abraham Toro 4-0.
For the Yankees, Dominican Soto was 1-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Venezuelans Gleyber Torres 4-1, Oswaldo Cabrera 4-0. Mexican Alex Verdugo went 1-0 with a RBI.
