MLB roundup: Judge, Yankees edge Blue Jays

Aaron Judge hit a towering home run with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning as the New York Yankees held on for a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in the opener of a four-game series at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night.

Judge hit his fifth homer of the season when he lifted a 3-2 split-fingered fastball from former Yankee Tyler Clippard into the left field seats, giving the Yankees a 4-2 lead.

Judge's homer exited his bat at 106 mph and traveled 394 feet into the first level of seats. It was Judge's 61st homer in his 199th career game, making him the fastest player to get 61 homers. Mark McGwire previously held the record set in his 204th career game in 1988.

Giancarlo Stanton batted fourth for the first time and went 1-for-3 with an infield single and a walk. Toronto lost for the second time in its last nine games and finished 2 of 14 with runners in scoring position.

Cubs 8, Cardinals 5

Jason Heyward hit a home run, Kyle Schwarber had two RBIs and Jon Lester did the rest from the mound as Chicago topped visiting St. Louis as every Cubs player in the starting lineup had a hit.

Schwarber had run-scoring singles in the first and second innings, helping the Cubs jump to a 6-1 lead. Heyward added two runs of insurance in the fifth with his second home run of the season, a blast to right field that plated Addison Russell. Kris Bryant had two RBIs, and Anthony Rizzo had three hits and an RBI.

Lester (2-0) allowed one unearned run on two hits with seven strikeouts and one walk in six innings. St. Louis starter Luke Weaver (2-1) allowed six runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and one walk in four innings.

Astros 9, Mariners 2

Charlie Morton pitched seven scoreless innings as visiting Houston defeated Seattle to take the final three games of the four-game series despite hitting into a triple play in the fourth inning.

Morton (3-0), the Astros' fifth starter, lowered his ERA in four starts this season to 0.72. He allowed three hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out eight. Jose Altuve went 3-for-4 with two doubles and four RBIs and Max Stassi and Josh Reddick hit solo home runs for the Astros.

In the Astros' half of the fourth, with runners at first and second, Evan Gattis hit a one-hopper to third baseman Kyle Seager near the bag at third. Seager touched third and threw to Robinson Cano at second for a double play. Because the ball wasn't hit hard, Cano didn't attempt a throw to first. But Gattis apparently thought the inning was over, as he started to jog back to the third-base dugout. Seager called to Cano to throw the ball to first baseman Daniel Vogelbach, who tagged out Gattis near the mound for the final out.

Tigers 13, Orioles 8

Leonys Martin ripped his first career grand slam, and Detroit completed a three-game series sweep by handling visiting Baltimore in the Tigers' biggest offensive outburst of the season.

Martin had three hits and scored three runs while Jeimer Candelario went 4-for-4, including a homer, and drove in three runs as the Tigers scored a season high. Jose Iglesias had three hits, two runs scored and three RBIs.

Winning pitcher Jordan Zimmermann (1-0) gave up four runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings. Manny Machado hit a pair of solo homers and drove in four runs for Baltimore. Chris Davis supplied a two-run shot, and Adam Jones contributed three doubles. Losing pitcher Alex Cobb (0-2) allowed seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings.

--Field Level Media