A Linden, California native, Aaron Judge grew up a Giants fan. But that didn’t stop him from visiting the home of the Bay Area’s other team, the Athletics.
Earlier this season, Judge said that he and his future wife, Samantha, went to the Oakland Coliseum for dates. He also remembers watching the Yankees there years before he would star for them, and the club invited the slugger to take batting practice in Oakland shortly after drafting him in 2013.
On Sunday, Judge hit a third-inning solo shot for his major league-leading 55th home run in what was presumably the Yankees’ final game at the Coliseum. With the A’s planning a relocation to Sacramento and then Las Vegas, the Yankees said goodbye to the battered ballpark with a 7-4 win and a series sweep.
Judge, originally drafted by the A’s in 2010, wasn’t the only Yankee to homer in the sendoff. Jasson Domínguez and Gleyber Torres also hit bases-empty blasts off Joey Estes in the second and fifth innings, respectively.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. added a sac fly in the fifth, while Giancarlo Stanton and Austin Wells had RBI doubles in the seventh and ninth innings, respectively.
On the mound, Luis Gil was charged with four earned runs over 5.1 innings in his first and last start at the Coliseum. The righty also totaled five hits, three walks and five strikeouts over 92 pitches.
The runs Gil allowed came on doubles from Tyler Soderstrom in the first inning and Ryan Noda in the sixth inning. Ian Hamilton was on the mound for Noda’s.
Later in the game, Luke Weaver cleaned up another Clay Holmes mess on his way to a five-out save. Weaver now has four saves since Holmes lost the closer’s job.
Sunday’s win improved the playoff-bound Yankees to 92-64 and saw their magic number to win the American League East shrink to one game after Baltimore (86-70) lost to Detroit. With the Orioles visiting Yankee Stadium next week, the Bombers need just one win in that three-game series to lock up the division.
The Yankees now have a season-high six-game lead over the O’s, who will start Dean Kremer, Zach Eflin and Corbin Burnes in the Bronx. Clarke Schmidt, Nestor Cortes and Gerrit Cole are lined up for the Yankees.
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