MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Aaron Judge hit his first home run since May 24, and the New York Yankees clinched their record 61st postseason berth and ninth in 10 years on Monday night.
Spencer Jones was batting with two outs in the eighth inning of an 8-3 win against Minnesota when Toronto lost to Detroit, assuring the Yankees of at least an AL wild card berth
Judge, who returned last week after missing more than three months because of a fractured rib, hit a three-run homer off A.J. Minter earlier in the six-run eighth to give the Yankees a 7-2 lead. Before the homer, the Yankees captain had been 3 for 20 with 11 strikeouts since returning.
“I’ve actually been pleased,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Monday afternoon. “Even right away, I felt like this looked better than I anticipated. I feel like he just missed a handful of pitches, but I feel like for the most part, like swinging at the right pitches, taking pitches that he should, not chasing a lot. I think it’s just a matter of that last level of fine tuning, that we know he’ll get to.”
New York (87-63) closed within 3 1/2 games of AL East leader Tampa Bay (90-59), which clinched a postseason berth on Friday.
The Yankees are seeking their first World Series title since 2009.
“You work very hard to get that opportunity to go to postseason,” Boone said.
Eighteen Yankees have landed on the injured list, including second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. last week with a sprained right thumb. Judge, a three-time AL MVP, missed 84 games due to a right rib stress fracture.
New York entered Monday 40-24 in games with Judge, averaging 5.17 runs per game, and hitting .243 with 86 home runs. Without him they were 46-39, averaging 3.93 runs per game while hitting .228 with 107 home runs.
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