NEW YORK — Aaron Judge became the second-fastest player in major league history to reach 200 career home runs, and the New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 8-2 on Saturday.

DJ LeMahieu homered and had an RBI single, and Matt Carpenter homered for the 15th time in 40 games for New York, which won its third straight after dropping a pair of games to the New York Mets.

The American League-leading Yankees have won seven straight against the Royals and 10 of the last 11.

Whit Merrifield had a third-inning double for his 1,000th career hit and Salvador Perez had a sacrifice fly for the Royals, who have lost five straight.

Judge, who became the first player in the majors this season to reach 40 homers Friday, fouled off two breaking balls from starter Jonathan Heasley before sending a 2-2 fastball into the right-center field seats for a two-run drive in the second inning. It was one of his two hits, and he also walked twice.

The 6-foot-7 slugger’s 200th homer came in his 671st career game, behind just Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard, who achieved the feat in 2009 in 658 games.

Judge has 42 homers this season and is on pace for 67. He is tied with Sammy Sosa and two behind Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire for the most before Aug. 1 in MLB history. Bonds holds the season record with 73 homers in 2001.

RAYS 6, GUARDIANS 4: Brandon Lowe and Yandy Díaz homered as Tampa Bay won in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The Rays had dropped two consecutive games, getting one run and 10 singles in 18 innings over the stretch.

Corey Kluber (7-6) allowed four runs and eight hits with a season-high 10 strikeouts in six innings and improved to 2-0 in two career starts against Cleveland, where he won the AL Cy Young Award in 2014 and 2017.

Pete Fairbanks struck out José Ramírez on three pitches with two on and two outs in the ninth to get his second save.

Andrés Giménez homered for the Guardians, who are 5-5 on an 11-game road trip.

Lowe connected on a two-run homer in the first and René Pinto had a second-inning RBI double off Zach Plesac (2-9) as Tampa Bay took a 3-0 lead.

Díaz’s two-run shot in the fifth put the Rays ahead 5-1.

Brett Phillips, who had seven hits in his previous 89 at-bats, had an RBI single with two outs in the eighth that made it 6-4.

BLUE JAYS 5, TIGERS 3: Teoscar Hernández hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the sixth inning, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. scored twice and the Blue Jays won at home, Toronto’s 11th win in 14 games.

Guerrero stayed in the game after being hit on the left wrist by a pitch from Detroit right-hander Derek Law in Toronto’s four–run sixth. Guerrero went down in pain after being hit and stayed down while receiving treatment before taking first base.

Blue Jays right-hander Trevor Richards (3-1) got two outs to earn the win. Yimi Garcia pitched 1 2/3 innings and Jordan Romano finished for his AL-leading 23rd save in 26 chances, ending it by retiring Javier Báez on a deep fly ball to the warning track in left with a runner at first.

WHITE SOX 3, ATHLETICS 2: Gavin Sheets hit a tying, two-run homer in the seventh inning and scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the ninth to lift Chicago won at home.

Sheets lined a leadoff double against Zach Jackson (2-3) in the ninth and advanced to third on Josh Harrison’s sacrifice bunt before Jackson bounced a slider with Tim Anderson at the plate.

Liam Hendricks (2-3) worked around Elvis Andrus’ double in the top of the ninth for the win.

MARINERS 5, ASTROS 4: Abraham Toro pinch-hit for All-Star Julio Rodriguez and delivered a two-run single with two outs in the ninth inning as visiting Seattle rallied past AL-West leading Houston.

Rodriguez was hit on the hand as he swung at a pitch in the top of the eighth inning. He struck out, but played in the field in the bottom half of the inning before being lifted in the ninth. There was no immediate word on Rodriguez’s condition.

The Mariners beat Houston for the first time since June 8, snapping a five-game losing streak to the Astros.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

METS 4, MARLINS 0: Carlos Carrasco earned his 100th career win, pitching four-hit ball into the eighth inning as New York won in Miami.

Francisco Lindor had three hits, including his 17th homer, while Jeff McNeil and J.D. Davis also went deep for the NL East leaders, who won their fifth straight.

The 35-year-old Carrasco (11-4) walked two and struck out seven in 7 2/3 innings. He became the eighth Venezuelan pitcher to reach 100 major league wins.

BRAVES 6, DIAMONDBACKS 2: William Contreras homered twice, Ian Anderson allowed one hit in six scoreless innings and Atlanta won at home

The victory was Atlanta’s second straight and boosted the defending World Series champion Braves to 38-14 since June 1, the best record in the major leagues over that span. Atlanta stayed three games behind the New York Mets in the NL East.

The Braves improved to 17-8 this month to guarantee consecutive months with single-digit losses for the first time since the 2004 team won the division with 96 victories. They are 35-21 at home.

PHILLIES 2, PIRATES 1: Philadelphia’s Didi Gregorious raced home when an ambitious throw from first to third by Pittsburgh’s Michael Chavis leading off the top of the 10th inning sailed wide of the target, helping the Phillies edge the Pirates in Pittsburgh.

Philadelphia’s Rhys Hoskins led off the 10th with a sharp grounder to Chavis at first base. Rather than step on the bag for an out, Chavis tried to cut down Gregorious as he ran from second to third.

The throw handcuffed Pittsburgh third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes and rolled into foul territory, allowing the sliding Gregorious to pop up and sprint across the plate to put the Phillies in front.

NATIONALS 7, CARDINALS 6: Josh Bell hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning and Washington rallied to beat St. Louis in Washington.

Bell, likely on his way out as the Major League Baseball trade deadline nears, gave the home fans possibly one final moment to celebrate his time with the club after his 14th homer of the season just cleared the wall in right-center off Génesis Cabrera (3-2).

Bell, who turns 30 next month and will be a free agent after the season, is having one of his best seasons and leads the Nationals with 57 RBI and is batting .305 in 101 games.

ROCKIES 5, DODGERS 3: Kyle Freeland outpitched Clayton Kershaw, and Brendan Rodgers had three hits as  Colorado snapped a six-game skid against Los Angeles in Denver.

Freeland (6-7) followed up his seven shutout innings at Milwaukee on Monday with another solid start, allowing three runs and six hits in six innings. He struck out six without walking a batter.

In two outings since the All-Star break, the lefty is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA.

INTERLEAGUE

REDS 8, ORIOLES 2: Tyler Mahle recovered from a rocky start to pitch well in a potential trade deadline audition, Joey Votto hit one of Cincinnati’s three homers and the Reds beat Baltimore in Cincinnati.

Jonathan India and Jake Fraley also connected for Cincinnati, which is selling pieces to contenders after dealing Luis Castillo to Seattle on Friday night. Mahle could be the next player out before Tuesday’s deadline.

Mahle’s outing got off to a rough start when he allowed three straight singles and balked in a run, giving the Orioles a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

Those were the only runs Mahle (5-7) allowed. He struck out seven and did not walk batter. He retired his final 13 batters.

TWINS 7, PADRES 4: All-Star Byron Buxton hit a tying homer in the fourth inning off Joe Musgrove, and Carlos Correa gave Minnesota some breathing room with a two-run shot during a five-run eighth that helped the Twins win in San Diego.

The Twins handed Musgrove (8-4) his fourth straight loss. Musgrove, who earned his first All-Star selection this year, and the Padres are on the cusp of finalizing a $100 million, five-year contract that would start next year.

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