Rays Yankees Baseball

Aaron Judge celebrates in the dugout after scoring during the Yankees’ six-run first inning Saturday against the Tampa Bay Rays. Adam Hunger/Asssociated Press

NEW YORK — Leadoff man Aaron Judge singled twice during a six-run first inning off Corey Kluber as the New York Yankees started with seven straight hits for the first time since 1990 and routed the Tampa Bay Rays 10-3 Saturday.

Josh Donaldson homered early and Giancarlo Stanton connected late off a lob pitch as both players returned to the lineup and helped the AL East-leading Yankees move 41/2 games ahead of Tampa Bay. New York also clinched the season head-to-head tiebreaker over the Rays should the teams finish even atop the division.

Judge, leading the majors with 55 home runs, hit three singles in raising his average to .307. He is the first Yankees player to reach base at least three times in seven straight games since Mickey Mantle in June 1957.

The Yankees opened a game with seven straight hits – all singles – for the first time since starting a 15-3 win over Baltimore with eight hits in a row on Sept. 25, 1990. New York hit six singles on the first 21 pitches from Kluber (10-8).

Judge’s RBI single with two outs chased the two-time Cy Young Award winner after 32 pitches.

Donaldson came back from the paternity list and hit an RBI single that bounced off the top of the fence in the first, then homered in the second. He missed four games following the birth of his daughter.

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Stanton hit his 25th home run, connecting on a 47 mph lob from catcher Christian Bethancourt in the eighth. Stanton had been limited to pinch-hitting appearances in the previous two games since fouling a ball off his left foot on Monday.

Stanton’s homer was his first extra-base hit in 55 at-bats since he homered and won the MVP award in the All-Star Game on July 19. He missed a month because of Achilles tendinitis.

New York starter Jameson Taillon (13-4) gave up three runs and six hits in 71/3 innings and got his 50th career win.

WHITE SOX 10, ATHLETICS 2: Elvis Andrus connected for a three-run homer against the team that cut him last month and visiting Chicago got 20 hits in its fourth straight win.

A.J. Pollack and Andrew Vaughn each had four hits, helping Lance Lynn (6-5) and the surging White Sox win for the ninth time in 11 games.

GIANTS 5, CUBS 2: Joey Bart and David Villar each homered, doubled and drove in two runs, helping visiting San Francisco end a five-game losing streak.

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Logan Webb (13-8) allowed two runs on six hits over seven innings while striking out six and walking none.

TIGERS 8, ROYALS 4: Victor Reyes drove in three runs, and Detroit won at Kansas City in a game called in the eighth inning because of rain.

NOTES

MINOR LEAUGES: The players’ association will submit union authorization cards to an arbitrator on Wednesday under an agreement with Major League Baseball that will lead to collective bargaining for approximately 5,500 farmhands.

MLB and the union reached a card-check agreement Saturday, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made.

Martin Scheinman, baseball’s permanent arbitrator, is expected to count the cards to determine whether more than 50% of the eligible players for the bargaining unit had signed. If a majority is achieved, MLB would recognize the union for minor leaguers and the players’ association would not have to ask the National Labor Relations Board to hold an election.

The bargaining unit would include minor leaguers except for 40-man major league roster players on option, who are covered by the big league union; players assigned to the Dominican Summer League, which is outside the U.S.; and players on the voluntary retired list.


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