New York (AP) — Aaron Judge hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning, Didi Gregorius followed with a grand slam and the New York Yankees beat Tampa Bay 8-3 Tuesday night after another surly clash between CC Sabathia and the Rays.
A pitch after slicing a would-be homer foul by about two feet, Judge smashed a 3-2 pitch from left-hander Colin Poche (2-3) into the right-center field seats to make it 4-3. It was Judge’s 10th homer, and he carried the bat nearly all the way to first base before tossing it down and shouting into New York’s dugout.
Gregorius took a curtain call after hitting a long grand slam later in the inning that ended a 1-for-23 skid. Edwin Encarnación hit his 28th homer and third in two games, DJ LeMahieu also went deep, and New York stretched its AL East lead over Tampa Bay to six games.
Yandy Díaz hit a solo homer and an RBI double, and All-Star Austin Meadows delivered his 14th homer for Tampa Bay.
Benches cleared during the sixth inning amid a shouting match between Sabathia and hitter Avisaíl García. After Sabathia struck out García looking to strand two runners, the 38-year-old barked and pointed at García. Sabathia was restrained by Gregorius and never got close to García while both benches and bullpens emptied. No punches were thrown.
Sabathia was ejected for plunking the Rays’ Jesus Sucre during his last regular season start in 2018 and has had a few salty run-ins with Tampa Bay this season, including when he threw at Meadows three times and shouted insults during a game in May.
Sabathia allowed three runs in six innings and struck out six. He has a 2.63 ERA in eight starts against the Rays over the past two seasons.
Left fielder Brett Gardner robbed García of a likely homer with a leaping grab against the wall in the fourth inning. García threw down his helmet in frustration.
David Hale (3-0) pitched two scoreless innings for New York, starting with an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the seventh against Travis d’Arnaud.
D’Arnaud led off for Tampa Bay and played first base a night after hitting three homers, including a go-ahead shot in the ninth inning. D’Arnaud was 0 for 4 Tuesday.
Jalen Beeks followed opener Ryne Stanek and pitched 3 1/3 innings of one-run ball. He struck out four straight and five overall after being called up from Triple-A Durham.
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