Aaron Judge homers again as Nestor Cortes, Yankees roll past Orioles 6-0
BALTIMORE — Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 37th home run, fellow All-Star Nestor Cortes pitched six sharp innings and the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-0 on Sunday.
Jose Trevino, another Yankees All-Star, produced the first four-hit game of his career. New York, with the best record in the big leagues, took two of three and have now won 22 of its 32 completed series this year.
Judge has seven home runs in his last nine games and leads the majors with 81 RBIs.
Cortes (8-3) allowed six hits, struck out seven and walked none while lowering his ERA from 2.63 to 2.48. The 27-year-old lefty began his MLB career with the Orioles in 2018.
Clarke Schmidt pitched three innings and earned his first career save.
New York scored three times in the third on a double by DJ LeMahieu and a two-run drive by Judge off Dean Kremer (3-2). Judge has nine homers in his last 12 games against Baltimore and 36 over his career — his most against any opponent.
The Yankees lead the majors with 166 homers, the most they've hit through the first 96 games of a season in franchise history.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa extended his hitting streak to 12 games with an RBI single and Trevino followed with a double that increased the lead to 5-0 in the Aaron Hicks drove in the sixth run with a single in the ninth.
VACCINATION
Every member of the Orioles' 40-man roster is now vaccinated, the club said. That means the entire team can travel to division rival Toronto on Aug. 15-17.
SCORING CHANGE
The Yankees used four outfielders in the second against Adley Rutschman, who hit a fly ball to left that was dropped by second baseman Gleyber Torres on the warning track. The official scorer initially charged Torres with an error but later awarded Rutschman his 18th double in 19 games.
STACKING WINS
The Yankees have won at least 66 of their first 97 games for the 10th time in franchise history.
MOVES
Yankees: RHP Shane Greene was designated for assignment. Greene made his first appearance for the Yankees since he was a rookie in 2014 on Saturday and gave up a home run.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Yankees: RHP Ron Marinaccio (shoulder inflammation) was reinstated from the 15-day injured list. … OF Giancarlo Stanton is feeling "beat up" but he could be back in the lineup Tuesday. … RHP Michael King will need surgery to repair his fractured elbow. He could be ready for spring training if he doesn't require Tommy John surgery, manager Aaron Boone said.
UP NEXT
Yankees: LHP Jordan Montgomery (3-2, 3.24 ERA) will start the series opener Tuesday against the Mets and RHP Taijuan Walker (7-2, 2.55 ERA).
Orioles: RHP Austin Voth (1-1, 6.38 ERA) is starting Monday against the Rays and RHP Corey Kluber (6-5, 3.73 ERA)