Aaron Judge, left, celebrates with third-base coach Luis Rojas after hitting a home run in the first inning Wednesday against the Oakland Athletics at Yankee Stadium022, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) AP

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton homered to fuel the New York Yankees’ major league-best 24th comeback victory, bailing out Jameson Taillon in a 5-3 win over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday.

The Yankees completed a three-game sweep of baseball’s worst team and improved to 56-20, matching the 2001 Mariners and 1998 Yankees for baseball’s best 76-game start since 1930.

Taillon gave up three runs in the first inning, but Judge countered with a two-run drive in the first and Stanton hit a three-run homer in the third against Cole Irvin.

The Yankees are 25-1 when Judge and Stanton homer in the same game, including 9-0 this season.

Taillon (9-1) grinded through five innings, and Clay Holmes pitched the ninth for his 14th save to end a seven-game homestand. Next, New York starts a season-high 11-day, 10-game trip with one game in Houston – a quirk of the sport’s reconfigured schedule after a lockout delayed Opening Day.

Judge’s homer was his major league-leading 29th, and his past five have come with New York either trailing or tied.

Advertisement

Stanton reached for Irvin’s changeup off the outside edge of the plate and swatted it over the right-field wall. It was Stanton’s 19th homer of the season, with five in his past six games.

The Yankees have 57 homers in June, surpassing the 2016 Orioles and 2019 Braves for most ever in the month.

Taillon struggled against a lineup that didn’t include any player with a batting average higher than .234. Seth Brown’s one-out double sparked a three-run first inning, which included a two-run double by Stephen Piscotty and a run-scoring single by Elvis Andrus.

Taillon labored after that, too, but didn’t give up any more runs. He stranded six runners over his final four innings, including the bases loaded in the second. He allowed seven hits, struck out six and walked two.

ROYALS 2, RANGERS 1: Zach Greinke allowed just one run on four hits, helping host Kansas City avoid a three-game sweep by beating Texas.

Kansas City’s Kyle Isbel provided the winning cushion with his second home run in as many games.

Advertisement

Greinke (2-4) made his 500th career start, the 48th pitcher in Major League Baseball history to do so and the only active pitcher to reach that milestone. He went six innings, striking out three and walking one.

MARINERS 9, ORIOLES 3: Julio Rodriguez hit his 12th home run of the season as part of a six-run fourth inning, and host Seattle beat Baltimore for its seventh win in nine games.

The Mariners took 2 of 3 from Baltimore and continued a stretch of good baseball after a 5-1 trip last week.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

PIRATES 8, NATIONALS 7: Bryan Reynolds hit a career-high three homers and drove in six runs, leading Pittsburgh to a win at Washington, ending a five-game losing streak.

Reynolds had a two-run homer in the first inning off Paolo Espino and a solo drive in the sixth off Carl Edwards Jr. (2-2).

Advertisement

Edwards exited with two runners on base in the seventh, giving way to Kyle Finnegan.

After Ke’Bryan Hayes struck out, Reynolds launched Finnegan’s elevated sinker into the visitors’ bullpen in left-center for a three-run homer that put the Pirates up 8-6. Prior to that shot, Pittsburgh was 0 for 15 with runners in scoring position in the series.

Reynolds struck out swinging in the ninth when he came up with a chance to tie the major league record of four home runs in a game.

The six RBI are a career high for Reynolds, who became the second Pirates player to homer three times in a game this season. Jack Suwinski did it June 19 against San Francisco.

PADRES 4, DIAMONDBACKS 0: Mike Clevinger outpitched Madison Bumgarner by throwing one-hit ball for six innings in his longest outing of the year, leading San Diego to a win at Phoenix.

Jake Cronenworth broke out of a 0-for-26 skid with two doubles and a single, driving in two runs and scoring once.

Advertisement

Clevinger (2-0) struck out six and walked one.

Bumgarner (3-8) allowed one run and four hits in five innings.

BRAVES 4, PHILLIES 1: Adam Duvall, a former Sanford Mainer, homered, Kyle Wright tossed seven sharp innings and visiting Atlanta kept rolling this month, beating Philadelphia.

The Braves improved to 21-5 in June, matching the team record for most wins in a calendar month since the club moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta in 1966.

They’ll try to set a record when they go for a three-game sweep on Thursday night. Rhys Hoskins homered and doubled for Philadelphia.

INTERLEAGUE

Advertisement

ASTROS 2, METS 0: Justin Verlander pitched two-hit ball for eight innings, light-hitting backup catcher Jason Castro lined a two-run homer in the ninth and visiting Houston sent New York to its first three-game losing streak this season.

Astros left fielder Yordan Alvarez and shortstop Jeremy Pena, who played at UMaine, were hurt when they collided in the eighth while running down Dominic Smith’s popup. Both called for the ball and as Pena caught the pop, they hit each other in the face with their gloves. Alvarez was removed on a cart, sitting up, and Pena walked back to the dugout during the eight-minute delay.

Both were walking in the clubhouse postgame, and Astros Manager Dusty Baker said the team was awaiting medical reports.

Verlander (10-3) became the major leagues’ first 10-game winner, striking out six and walking one. The 39-year-old right-hander, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, has a 2.03 ERA this year in his return from Tommy John surgery.

BREWERS 5, RAYS 3: Rowdy Tellez hit two home runs and Milwaukee center fielder Jonathan Davis made a spectacular catch, sending the Brewers to a win at St. Petersburg, Florida.

Tellez has five home runs and eight RBI in his past six games.

Advertisement

Tellez hit his 15th homer, a tie-breaking, solo drive in the eighth inning to right field off reliever Calvin Faucher (1-2). The ball struck the outer C-ring of the catwalk at Tropicana Field.

In the second, Tellez homered to deep center off opener Jalen Beeks.

Davis robbed Randy Arozarena of an extra-base hit in the second when he made a flying, over-the-shoulder catch while crashing head-first into the wall. He stayed down for several minutes holding his back and initially stayed in the game before leaving in the bottom of the third with lower back and rib cage discomfort.

TIGERS 3, GIANTS 2: Eric Haase hit a two-run homer to break a 1-all tie in the sixth inning and Detroit won at San Francisco.

It was Haase’s fifth home run of the season and his second in the last three games. Miguel Cabrera also drove in a run for the Tigers, who improved their league-worst road record to 11-23 and split the two-game series.

NOTES

Advertisement

METS: Aces Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer took their next steps toward returning to New York’s rotation.

DeGrom, sidelined since last July 7, threw 27 pitches to hitters in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and could progress to a minor league injury rehabilitation assignment.

“We’ll see how he feels tomorrow,” Mets Manager Buck Showalter said after watching on video from Citi Field. “Tomorrow, if he feels well, we’ll probably be able to talk about that next step.”

A two-time Cy Young Award winner, the 34-year-old right-hander missed the second half of last season because of right forearm tightness. He returned and made spring training starts on March 22 and 27, then was sidelined by a stress reaction in his right scapula that caused inflammation. He did not throw another bullpen session until June 4.

Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, has been sidelined since straining his left oblique muscle while pitching against St. Louis on May 18. He made his second rehab start for the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies on Wednesday night, against the Hartford Yard Goats. He pitched 4 2/3 innings and allowed three runs, two earned and four hits. He walked one and struck out eight.

PHILLIES: Bryce Harper had successful surgery to repair his broken left thumb, interim manager Rob Thomson said, but there is no timetable for his return.

Philadelphia remains hopeful the 2021 NL MVP can play again this season.

Thomson deferred all other questions about the surgery to Harper, who is expected to return to Philadelphia sometime this week to address the situation.

Harper was injured on Saturday night by a fastball from San Diego Padres left-hander Blake Snell.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.