Aaron Judge hits No. 54, Yankees blank A’s 10-0, closing on AL East crown

OAKLAND, Calif. — Yankees manager Aaron Boone wanted his first-place ballclub to celebrate just getting into the playoffs the other night in Seattle because, as he put it, "You need to smell the roses."

The Yankees are closing in on another champagne party.

It's inevitable now. The American League crown soon will be theirs.

The Yankees' magic number for clinching was cut from five to three on Saturday with their 10-0 shellacking of the Athletics at Oakland Coliseum by night and by day the slumping second-place Orioles falling again in a 6-4, 10-inning home loss to the surging Tigers.

With 10 games to play, the Yankees are up five games on the Orioles, who will be at Yankee Stadium for three games starting Tuesday. The Yankees will be in a position to clinch heading into the series opener if they win or the Orioles lose on Sunday.

RESTORING THE GLORY

The Yankees' latest blowout win was filled with highlights, starting with Aaron Judge hitting his 54th homer and Juan Soto contributing two hits in his return to the lineup after not starting Friday night due to a sore left knee.

Anthony Volpe and Giancarlo Stanton also homered for the Yankees, who out-hit the A's 14-5 in winning for the eighth time in 10 games.

The Yankees got excellent pitching. Starter Carlos Rodon working six shutout innings to improve his record to 16-9 and the bullpen completed the shutout with Mark Leiter Jr., pitching two innings and lefty Tim Mayza working the ninth.

In addition, this was a milestone game for Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who picked up his 600th career victory.

The A's were down and out early with former Yankees lefty JP Sears (11-12) being shelled by his old club, which scored two in the first, one in the second and three in the third to build a quick 6-0 lead.

In the Yankees first, Gleyber Torres and Soto singled, then Judge walked to load the bases with nobody out. The first run scored when Stanton hit into a 5-4-3 double play, then switch-hitting rookie Jasson Dominguez made it 2-0 with a two-out single for first career RBI batting right-handed.

Volpe made it 3-0 by leading off the Yankees second with a 421-foot homer to left, his 12th.

The next inning, Soto and Judge singled to put two on with nobody out for Stanton, who blasted a 441-foot, three-home run on a first-pitch changeup from Sears that crossed the middle of the plate.

- With the A's starting a left-hander, Aaron Boone rested three of his lefty-swinging regulars — Anthony Rizzo, Jazz Chisholm and Austin Wells.

- Boone is the seventh Yankees' manager with 600 wins. Since he succeeded Joe Girardi in 2018, the Yankees' 600-425 record is the third-best in the majors, trailing only the Dodgers (650-375) and Astros (615-410).

- Judge has a two-homer lead on the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani for most in the majors.

- Stanton's 26th homer of the season was No. 428 for his career. That's one more than Mike Piazza for 51st all-time. Next ahead of Stanton is Cal Ripken Jr., with 431.

- Yankees relievers have a 1.17 ERA over the last 14 games, allowing seven earned runs in 53.2 innings.

LOOKING AHEAD

Sunday: Yankees at Athletics, 4:07 p.m., EST, YES. RHP Luis Gil (14-6, 3.14) vs. RHP Joey Estes (7-8, 4.78).

Monday: Off day.