AL East

The Boston Red Sox intend to pitch to New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who is looking to break the American League home run record, on Thursday night.

"I didn’t come here to have a vacation this weekend," Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters.

#RedSox have intentionally walked Aaron Judge once in 66 plate appearances this season and three times in 365 career plate appearances.

Unless it's some really obvious situation it would be surprising if they walked him intentionally in this series.

— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) September 22, 2022

Judge enters Thursday's game hitting .317/.421/.705 with 60 home runs, 128 RBI and 16 stolen bases in 144 games.

The two-time Silver Slugger joined the exclusive club of players—Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Babe Ruth, Sammy Sosa and Roger Maris—who have hit 60 home runs in a season when he hit a solo home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday.

Judge is tied with Ruth for eighth place on the single-season home run list. Ruth accomplished the feat of hitting 60 home runs in a season as a member of the Yankees in 1927.

The MVP candidate is just one home run shy of tying Maris' AL single-season record of most homers in a season. Maris set the record when he hit 61 as a member of the Yankees in 1961.

However, Judge told reporters earlier this week that he hasn't been thinking about the numbers:

"I don't think about the numbers. When you talk about Ruth and Maris and [Mickey] Mantle and all these Yankees greats that did so many great things in this game, you never imagine as a kid being mentioned with them. It's an incredible honor. It's something I don't take lightly at all. But we're not done. We still have a couple games left in this season and hopefully a couple of more wins come with them.

"I'm trying to enjoy it all, soak it all in, but I know I still have a job to do out on the field every single day and I just have to keep my head down, keep preparing and stay mentally focused."

That said, Judge's 61st home run of the season could very well come Thursday night in the Bronx. In 80 career games against the Red Sox, the star slugger has hit 21 home runs. He has only hit more career homers against the Baltimore Orioles (35) and Toronto Blue Jays (27).

This season, Judge has hit five home runs in 14 games against the Red Sox and is hitting .309/.424/.618 against the Pinstripes' archrival.

Michael Wacha, who has arguably been Boston's best pitcher this season, will take the mound for the visitors Thursday. He is 11-1 with a 2.61 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 92 strikeouts in 114 innings across 20 starts.

If Judge hits his 61st home run in front of the crowd at Yankee Stadium, it will be an incredibly special moment. That said, he's just trying to help his team get in better position for the playoffs.

The Yankees enter Thursday first in the AL East with a 90-58 record, 6.5 games ahead of the second-place Toronto Blue Jays. The Houston Astros have the best record in the AL at 99-51, eight games ahead of the Yankees.

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is on the cusp of history, but there is a chance some fans won't be able to watch him achieve it.

Judge is one home run away from tying Roger Maris' single-season franchise record of 61, and the Yankees are scheduled to take on the Boston Red Sox on Friday in an exclusive Apple TV+ broadcast.

According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, the team has "tried to facilitate a trade with Apple, offering Michael Kay, David Cone and Paul O’Neill plus production support to put Friday’s Yankees game on YES [Network]."

However, MLB and Apple have denied the request.

Apple TV+ is a subscription service, but MLB games on Friday are offered for free. New York's game against Boston will have a broadcast team that consists of Stephen Nelson on play-by-play, with Hunter Pence and Katie Nolan also on the call.

Marchand noted that Kay is still "in play on a loaner deal" to add him to the Apple broadcast on Friday. Kay is the longtime voice of the Yankees, and he also is a part of ESPN's MLB coverage for some Sunday Night Baseball games on the Kay-Rod telecasts alongside Alex Rodriguez.

Despite the chance to be on the call for a historic moment, it doesn't sound like Kay is interested in joining the Apple broadcast.

"The first I learned of this is from the Post’s website," Kay told Marchand. "At first blush, I would feel very uncomfortable taking the assignment away from someone else."

Marchand added that officials from YES Network are "still holding out hope" that it will have the chance to broadcast the game, but MLB and Apple are not budging from their stances. Fox Sports has also approached them about Friday's game, but those discussions didn't go anywhere.

Per Marchand, YES "is also amenable to just running Apple’s broadcast on its air to make it easier for Yankees fans to watch." Apple, however, "sees Friday night as a chance to grow its business" because of the massive fan interest the game will undoubtedly attract. Friday's game is one of the few Apple broadcasts this season that will feature the Yankees, so it's hard to imagine the streaming service giving it away.

If Judge were to break Maris' record in a game when the majority of Yankee fans might not be able to watch, it will surely be a disappointment to those hoping to witness the monumental achievement.

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is one home run away from tying Roger Maris' all-time American League single-season record of 61 homers, and interest in betting on props has skyrocketed as he approaches the mark.

"Nearly nine times as much money was bet on Judge to hit a home run Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates as was bet on any other player offered at Caesars Sportsbook," per ESPN's David Purdum. "BetMGM reported there were more bets on Judge's home run prop odds than there were on the outcome of the Pirates-Yankees game."

Judge didn't hit a home run to tie Maris' 61-year-old record, but he has +195 odds ($100 bet to win $295) to do so Thursday at Yankee Stadium against the Boston Red Sox, per DraftKings Sportsbook. Right-hander Michael Wacha will get the start against the Bronx Bombers.

According to Purdum, DraftKings' most popular player prop Thursday is Judge hitting a home run, and in comparison to other players, interest in Judge hitting homers is far greater than other league stars.

"In September at sportsbook PointsBet, Judge has attracted over 13 percent of all home run wagers," Purdum wrote. "That's four times as many bets as the second- and third-most wagered players—Paul Goldschmidt and Shohei Ohtani—have attracted combined, according to PointsBet."

Judge has posted 60 home runs, 128 RBI, a .317 batting average and a 1.126 OPS en route to leading the 90-58 Yankees to a 6.5-game lead in the American League East. He has 14 more games to eclipse Maris' record, beginning Thursday with a four-game homestand against the Red Sox.

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For all the latest betting information and reaction, check out B/R Betting.

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New York Yankees fans were fighting for a piece of history Tuesday.

When Aaron Judge launched his 60th home run of the season into the bleachers during the ninth inning of Tuesday's contest against the Pittsburgh Pirates, fans dogpiled on top of each other trying to get the ball:

A fan had to get through this dogpile for Judge's 60th HR and only asked for an autograph in return 🙌 @BRWalkoff

(via @HonnyWags) https://t.co/qne0FSMmLa

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 21, 2022

It was part of an incredible inning for the Yankees, as Judge's solo homer cut the deficit to three before Giancarlo Stanton eventually provided the game-ending fireworks with a walk-off grand slam.

Mike Kessler was the one who emerged with the ball from Judge's homer that tied Babe Ruth for the second-most long balls in a single season for a Yankees player. Kessler told Brian Lewis of the New York Post he gave the ball to Judge in exchange for signed balls, a signed bat, a photograph and a meeting with the slugger.

"It bounced off someone's hand," he said. "I reached and grabbed it and just bear-hugged it. I just smothered it. It got off to the side. It was a mad pile."

Judge tied Babe Ruth and is now one home run behind Roger Maris for the most homers in a single season in Yankees history. He'll look to tie the mark in Wednesday's contest against the Pirates.

Michael Kessler, the fan who caught Aaron Judge's 60th home run in the ninth inning of Tuesday's game between the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates, traded the historic ball for a gift package.

Per MLB.com's Bryan Hoch, Kessler swapped the ball for a meet-and-greet with Judge in the Yankees' clubhouse, four autographed baseballs and a signed bat that wasn't the one used to hit the homer.

"We were standing on top of the bleachers and then went down for his at-bat," Kessler told Hoch about catching the ball. "We were jumping up and down because I knew it was a home run. It hit the top of the bleachers and then bounced toward our section. I just went to grab it and bear hugged it."

The fan who caught Aaron Judge's 60th home run ball wanted Judge to have it to celebrate his accomplishment 👏

(via @JohnstoneJD, @BryanHoch) pic.twitter.com/dKexcr22CU

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) September 21, 2022

Judge became the sixth player in Major League Baseball history to hit at least 60 homers in a season with his solo shot off Pirates reliever Wil Crowe.

No. 60 ties The Sultan of Swat for 2nd all-time in American League history!@TheJudge44 👨‍⚖️ pic.twitter.com/DNwFXsJFMC

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 21, 2022

Judge is tied with Yankees icon Babe Ruth for the second-most homers in a single season in American League history. His next one will tie Roger Maris for the AL single-season record.

At his current pace, Judge is on track to finish the regular season with 66 homers. If he hits that mark, it would tie Sammy Sosa's 1998 campaign for the third-most in MLB history.

The homer was critical because it helped spark New York's five-run rally vs. the Pirates. Giancarlo Stanton ended the game with a walk-off grand slam to keep the Yankees' lead over the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East at 5.5 games with 15 left to play.

Judge and the Yankees will host the Pirates on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. ET.

The fight for Aaron Judge home run balls is about to become its own spectacle with expected auction values set to explode as he chases the American League record and beyond.

SCP Auctions' David Kohler told TMZ Sports on Wednesday he expects the sale price could ultimately reach seven figures as Judge, who hit his 60th homer on Tuesday night, pushes toward history. Here are Kohler's projections for what future longballs by the New York Yankees superstar could fetch if they hit the auction block:

• No. 61 to tie Roger Maris' AL/Yankees records: $200,000-$250,000
• No. 62 to break those records: over $500,000
• Final HR of the season: over $1 million

What's made Judge's home run barrage so impressive is the fact he's done it while leaving everybody else in the dust. Unlike the steroid or juiced-ball eras, where HR tallies jumped across the board, the Yanks outfielder is alone in his record-breaking pursuits.

Behind his 60 dingers, next on the MLB list is the Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber at 40 and no one else in the AL is higher than the Houston Astros' Yordan Alvarez at 37.

His latest home run on Tuesday night, which sparked a 9-8 comeback win capped by a Giancarlo Stanton walk-off grand slam, tied him with Babe Ruth for eighth on the single-season list.

"When you talk about Ruth and Maris and Mantle and all these Yankees greats, you never imagine as a kid getting mentioned with them," Judge told reporters. "It's an incredible honor and something I don't take lightly at all. We're not done."

Barry Bonds holds the all-time record at 73, which is likely out of reach barring a remarkable run over the final 15 games on the Yankees' regular-season schedule.

Nevertheless, it's been a special season for Judge, who often carried the club on his shoulders while it went through a few offensive lulls, especially coming out of the All-Star break. It's also put him in contention for the AL Triple Crown heading into the final weeks.

The 30-year-old California native said he's not focused on individual accomplishments as the Yankees attempt to lock down the AL East division title, though.

"I haven't really been thinking about numbers or stats and stuff like that," Judge said after Tuesday's comeback win. "I'm going out there trying to help my team win. At the time, it was a solo shot in the ninth, still down by a couple of runs. But this team, we've always had a never-say-die attitude. We fight until the end."

The Yanks close out a two-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday before opening a four-game weekend clash with the rival Boston Red Sox on Thursday at Yankee Stadium.

Expect the ticket prices for those contests to look similar to the Home Run Derby, with more fans wanting to sit in the outfield bleachers than down the lines.

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Shane McClanahan was removed from Tuesday's game against the Houston Astros after the fourth inning with an apparent shoulder injury, per Tricia Whitaker of Bally Sports.

Rays manager Kevin Cash and athletic trainer Mike Sandoval went out to the mound after they saw McClanahan moving his shoulder in discomfort, according to Whitaker. He was then removed.

The Rays later announced that McClanahan exited with left neck tightness/spasm, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

McClanahan had allowed five runs on five hits in four innings before exiting. He was replaced by Shawn Armstrong.

It's a tough blow for McClanahan, who is having a solid 2022 season. Entering Tuesday's game, he had a 12-5 record with a 2.13 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 187 strikeouts in 152.1 innings across 25 starts.

The 25-year-old is in his second season with the Rays, which selected him in the first round of the 2018 MLB draft out of the University of South Florida in Tampa.

In his rookie season, he went 10-6 with a 3.43 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 141 strikeouts in 123.1 innings across 25 starts. He also pitched in the 2021 postseason, though he struggled in two games against the Boston Red Sox in the ALDS, allowing five runs on 10 hits in 5.2 innings.

If McClanahan misses any time, Drew Rasmussen, Corey Kluber, Jeffrey Springs and Ryan Yarbrough will be tasked with holding down the rotation.

The Rays entered Tuesday's game third in the AL East with a 82-65 record, 6.5 games behind the first-place New York Yankees and one game behind the second-place Toronto Blue Jays.

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has been garnering a ton of attention lately, as he is on the verge of achieving history.

Actor and longtime Yankees fan Adam Sandler shared a heartfelt message to Judge on social media as the outfielder aims to become the sixth player in MLB history to hit 60 or more home runs in a single season:

We love you pal. You’re incredible. We are all having the best time watching you. Thank you. pic.twitter.com/Rl3PD3WBql

— Adam Sandler (@AdamSandler) September 20, 2022

With about two weeks left in the regular season, Judge has the chance to break Roger Maris' franchise record of 61 home runs. Entering Tuesday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Judge leads MLB with 59 homers and 127 RBI. He also has a legitimate shot at achieving the Triple Crown, as he is tied for second in the American League with a .316 batting average.

Judge's historic season could lead to his first career AL MVP award. The 30-year-old is in line for a massive contract this offseason after turning down a long-term extension offer from the Yankees prior to this year.

Gerrit Cole is undoubtedly the ace of the New York Yankees rotation, but there was some speculation about whether he would be the team's Game 1 playoff starter in what has been an inconsistent season for the veteran hurler.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone put the speculation to rest during an appearance on The Show podcast with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman of the New York Post, declaring the right-hander will be the Game 1 starter:

“Yeah, Cole would be. And we feel great about Nestor obviously too. And hopefully [Luis Severino] getting back here and getting a few starts under his belt here at the back end, put him in that mix too. We’ve got a couple weeks to go there and we’ve got to see how we get there and how we get in. Those things always affect how you line things up. But hopefully we’re in a position to line it up how we want.”

Yankees manager Aaron Boone joined The Show with @JoelSherman1 & @JonHeyman: Boone talks about Gerrit Cole's up and down season and him being the Yankees Game 1 starter in the playoffs

Apple: https://t.co/KWFl59A4dp
Spotify: https://t.co/BxBwNCMbTM pic.twitter.com/skeXniLs55

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) September 20, 2022

Cole enters Tuesday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 12-7 record, 3.41 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 236 strikeouts in 182.1 innings across 30 starts. Those are respectable numbers for the five-time All-Star.

However, the 32-year-old has found himself struggling of late. In his last five starts dating back to an Aug. 26 win over the Oakland Athletics, Cole has given up eight home runs, including five over his last two starts alone.

In total, Cole has allowed 29 home runs on the season, and his HR/9 rate is 1.43. The 29 blasts are tied for the second-most in his career, and his HR/9 rate would be the second-worst of his career.

It's certainly not where the Yankees want Cole to be heading into October, and Boone previously told reporters that his ace was "frustrated" that seemingly every mistake he has made has led to a home run.

"I’m processing it, and to be honest, I don’t really have a good answer for you," Cole said when asked about why he's given up so many home runs this year, per WFAN Sports Radio 101.9 FM. "In some cases, it’s kind of remarkable. But I need to be better."

Cole has been New York's ace since he put pen to paper on a record-breaking nine-year, $324 million deal before the 2020 season, and he has started every Game 1 possible for the Pinstripes.

In 2020, he started Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series against the Cleveland Guardians. In seven innings, he allowed six hits and two runs on 105 pitches and struck out 13 in a 12-3 win.

In Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays that year, he allowed six hits and three runs on 97 pitches while striking out eight in six innings. The Yankees won that game 9-3.

The only Game 1 Cole lost came in the 2021 American League Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox when he allowed three runs and four hits on 50 pitches in two innings in a 6-2 defeat.

Considering his track record in the postseason, it's no surprise Boone is confident in Cole as his Game 1 starter.

The New York Yankees placed starting pitcher Frankie Montas on the 15-day injured list with a shoulder injury on Tuesday.

While the Yankees will be without Montas for now, the team did receive some good news regarding the injury. Per Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Montas' MRI revealed no major damage.

Montas confirms the MRI revealed no major issues, says he had a cortisone shot yesterday, feels better today and hopes to be back for the postseason. “Oh yeah, hopefully,” he says about October.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) September 20, 2022

Montas told reporters on Saturday that he was going to undergo an MRI on his shoulder, but he was optimistic there wasn't anything seriously wrong.

The Yankees decided to have the right-hander examined after his Sept. 16 start vs. the Milwaukee Brewers in which he allowed four runs on four hits and four walks in 3.1 innings.

This marks Montas' second MRI in 2022. He had one in July while still playing for the Oakland Athletics that revealed shoulder inflammation but no structural damage. The 29-year-old spent two weeks on the injured list.

After dipping their toes into the Juan Soto trade waters, the Yankees made Montas their big in-season acquisition prior to the trade deadline. They sent four prospects to Oakland in exchange for the veteran pitcher.

Montas had a 3.18 ERA with 109 strikeouts in 104.2 innings through 19 starts with the A's prior to the trade.

Since the move to New York, Montas has struggled to a 6.35 ERA, 46 hits allowed and 33 strikeouts over 39.2 innings. He has only pitched at least six innings twice and has allowed at least four earned runs five times in eight starts.

Montas' issues are among several problems the Yankees have had since the All-Star break. They are 24-30 in 54 games during the second half after posting an MLB-best 64-28 record before the Midsummer Classic.

New York still leads the American League East by 5.5 games with 16 games remaining in the regular season. Its postseason chances depend on key players, including Montas, playing up to their potential.