Field Level Media
Sep 14, 2018
Aaron Judge returned from the disabled list as a defensive replacement, and Masahiro Tanaka pitched six outstanding innings as New York scored five times in the first and cruised to an 11-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night at Yankee Stadium.
Judge returned from the disabled list after missing 45 games since July 26 due to a fractured right wrist. He is not ready to take at-bats but was able to play the field for the last two innings.
Judge is not expected to get any at-bats this weekend. The Yankees did not want to speculate when the right fielder would be back in the starting lineup.
Tanaka (12-5) won his third straight start and ran his scoreless innings streak to 20. He allowed four hits, struck out eight and issued two walks while throwing 90 pitches.
Luis Cessa pitched the last three innings for his second save.
The Yankees (91-56) beat the Blue Jays for the 13th time in 17 meetings. New York also recorded its largest margin of victory in a shutout since a 15-0 win over the Mets on June 14, 2009, at Yankee Stadium.
In the first inning, Aaron Hicks and Gleyber Torres sandwiched RBI singles around a run-scoring groundout by Didi Gregorius to make it 3-0. A two-run double by Luke Voit made it 5-0, and the Yankees added three in the third on an RBI single by Brett Gardner that knocked out Marco Estrada (7-12) and a two-run, bases-loaded single by Giancarlo Stanton off Taylor Guerrieri.
Andrew McCutchen homered to make it 9-0 in the fifth and fell a triple shy of the cycle. He also reached in each of his five plate appearances by drawing a pair of walks.
Gregorius hit his 24th homer to start the eighth, and Gardner capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly.
Estrada tied a career high by allowing eight runs while lasting 2 2/3 innings. He allowed six hits and lost his third straight decision.
Toronto (65-82) lost for the ninth time in 13 games and clinched its second straight losing season following consecutive playoff appearances. The Blue Jays were shut out for the 11th time.
--Field Level Media