After Aaron Judge’s home run binge took a break, so did the New York Yankees. Now they hope the day off can get them going again after a rough showing in Washington.
Judge leads the majors with 51 homers through the Yankees’ first 134 games but went homerless in three games against the Nationals. He and the Yankees host the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday in the opener of a three-game series.
Judge went 3-for-9 as the Yankees dropped two of three in Washington. The Yankees had 27 hits in the series but were 1-for-26 with runners in scoring position, including a 1-for-13 effort on Wednesday when they lost 5-2.
“We’ve got to keep creating as many opportunities as possible,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “But we didn’t do enough the last two nights pushing runs across.”
Despite the lack of big hits, the Yankees are on an 18-11 run after enduring a 10-23 slide and will return home in first place in the American League East. New York never dropped more than three games out of the division lead and has held the lead every day since Aug. 21.
Judge hit the 50-homer milestone for the third time in his career in the first inning Sunday against the Colorado Rockies and added another in the seventh inning. He returns home with seven homers in his past nine games.
The Cardinals, who are visiting the Yankees for the first time since April 2017, are on a 14-19 run since sitting five games over .500 on July 23.
St. Louis is starting a six-game trip through New York and Milwaukee after splitting a four-game series against the San Diego Padres. The Cardinals won the final two contests, including a 4-1 victory on Thursday afternoon.
Masyn Winn homered Thursday and went 9-for-17 in the series. He is hitting .383 (23-for-60) since Aug. 14.
“He continues to take impressive at-bats,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said of Winn. “It’s like he can almost do whatever he wants. It’s been fun to watch him. He continues to grow.”
Right-hander Marcus Stroman (9-6, 3.88 ERA) will start Friday for the Yankees, attempting to reach double-digit victories for the sixth time in his career.
Stroman allowed three runs in five innings in New York’s 10-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday. He is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in his past three outings after going 0-3 with a 7.56 ERA in his previous six starts.
Stroman is 1-6 with a 5.30 ERA in 10 career starts against the Cardinals, who hit .322 against him in three starts last season when he pitched for the Chicago Cubs.
Right-hander Erick Fedde (8-7, 3.31 ERA) will make his sixth start since joining the Cardinals at the trade deadline from the Chicago White Sox. Fedde is 1-3 with a 4.23 ERA for St. Louis. He took a no-decision on Sunday at Minnesota when he allowed one run on two hits in six innings.
Fedde is 0-1 with a 5.02 ERA in three career starts against the Yankees.
–Field Level Media