Blue Jays at Yankees
Slugger Aaron Judge tied a major league rookie record by slamming 10 home runs in April and joined some lofty company with his first two blasts in May. Judge launched two of five homers on Tuesday for the New York Yankees, who will face the visiting Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night in the rubber match of a three-game series.
Judge became the third player in franchise history to go deep 12 times in the first 25 games of the season - a feat achieved by Alex Rodriguez and Babe Ruth -and New York improved to 10-0 in games in which the rookie homers. Brett Gardner, a teammate not known for his power, is 8-for-23 with four homers and seven RBIs during a five-game hitting streak on the homestand. Toronto's Steve Pearce clubbed his first two homers of the season as part of a 4-for-4 night to lift his batting average above .200 for the first time since April 6. Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman takes a 5-2 record and 2.17 ERA against the Yankees into the series finale.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, ESPN, Sportsnet One (Toronto), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays RH Marcus Stroman (2-2, 2.97 ERA) vs. Yankees LH CC Sabathia (2-1, 4.34)
Stroman bounced back from his one clunker with a pair of exceptional performances, tossing his second complete game of the season in Anaheim before settling for a no-decision despite registering a season-high 10 strikeouts last time out against Tampa Bay. The Duke product allowed two runs or fewer in four of his five starts and walked only seven batters overall. Stroman has held Jacoby Ellsbury to one hit in 20 at-bats.
Sabathia yielded three earned runs and 12 hits over his first three starts but has seen his ERA balloon by nearly three runs while getting rocked in his last two appearances. The 36-year-old lasted five innings in a loss at Pittsburgh on April 21, giving up four runs on seven hits, and was tagged for seven runs in 5 1/3 innings by Baltimore in his last turn. Jose Bautista is 5-for-40 with 10 strikeouts against him.
WALK-OFFS
1. Judge joined Eric Davis (1987) as the only players age 25 or younger with 12 homers and 25 RBIs in the first 25 games of a season.
2. Blue Jays Devon Travis is 4-for-8 with two doubles and four runs scored in the series.
3. Yankees DH Matt Holliday is 10-for-24 with two homers and seven RBIs in the last six games.