MILWAUKEE (AP) — Aaron Judge homered in the first inning and played a central role as a baserunner during a seven-run rally in the sixth as the New York Yankees defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 15-5 on Sunday.
Anthony Rizzo went 4 for 4 and hit his 300th career homer. Anthony Volpe added a three-run shot on his 23rd birthday. Judge went 3 for 4 with three RBIs, including a 441-foot solo shot.
New York grabbed a half-game lead in the AL East over the Baltimore Orioles, who lost 7-6 to Oakland. The Yankees begin a four-game series at Baltimore on Monday.
Jake Bauers, who played for the Yankees last season, went 3 for 5 with a three-run homer against his former team. The 28-year-old first baseman also worked a scoreless ninth inning for the Brewers in his first major league pitching appearance.
The game was tied at 4 before the Yankees’ sixth-inning outburst. All seven of their runs scored with two outs after the Brewers failed to turn a double play earlier in the inning because shortstop Willy Adames’ attempted throw to first hit Judge’s padded left hand.
Judge was on first after drawing a leadoff walk when Alex Verdugo hit a bouncer to second baseman Brice Turang, whose throw to Adames retired Judge at second. Judge raised his left arm as he slid into second, and Adames’ throw bounced off the 6-foot-7 slugger’s hand before hitting the ground.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy argued that Judge should have been called for interference, which would have left the Yankees with two out and nobody on base. The umpiring crew disagreed, enabling Verdugo to stay at first with one out.
That decision proved crucial when the Yankees staged a big rally.
Verdugo scored the go-ahead run on Gleyber Torres’ single off Abner Uribe (2-2). The Yankees would score six more runs during a rally that culminated with a two-run single from Judge, who drew a hearty round of boos from the American Family Field crowd.
New York’s seven-run outburst came after the Brewers erased a 4-0 deficit by scoring four runs in the fifth off Marcus Stroman.
Ron Marinaccio (1-0) earned the win after allowing one run in 1.1 innings.
