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Judge, Gardner Crush Two Homers Apiece To Carry Yankees Over Blue Jays

NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge hit two more home runs after destroying a flat-screen television with a long drive during batting practice, and Brett Gardner also went deep twice to power the New York Yankees past the Toronto Blue Jays 11-5 on Tuesday night.

Injury substitute Aaron Hicks added a two-run shot, and Masahiro Tanaka (4-1) pitched into the seventh inning to win his fourth straight start.

Matt Holliday had three hits, including an early RBI double, as the Yankees jumped to a 7-0 lead against Mat Latos and won for the 15th time in 20 games.

Steve Pearce went 4 for 4 with his first two homers for the Blue Jays, who had won a season-best three in a row. Latos (0-1) was ineffective in his third start for Toronto, allowing four homers and 10 hits in four innings.

Judge, the 6-foot-7 mountain of a rookie, took over the major league lead with his 12th home run, a three-run shot to left field on the 10th pitch of his at-bat in the seventh.

He went the other way for a solo shot in the third, clearing the 314-foot sign in the right-field corner by a few rows with a pop fly that left a smiling Latos shaking his head and almost laughing behind the mound.

Estimated at 337 feet, the home run was the shortest of Judge's big league career. He came in averaging 413 feet on his long balls this year, according to Major League Baseball's Statcast system.

It was the second time in the past five games that Judge connected twice. He has five homers in his last five games.

And when the slugger made a fine catch in right field, fans at Yankee Stadium chanted "MVP! MVP!"

Before the game, Judge showed off his prodigious power with a shot to center field that smashed a TV in one of the ballpark's new social gathering areas beyond the bullpens and Monument Park in center field.

Gardner led off the bottom of the first with a double and scored three times. He has four home runs this season — a pair of two-homer performances in the past four games.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Blue Jays: With injured 3B Josh Donaldson (right calf) and SS Troy Tulowitzki (right hamstring) rehabbing at the team's complex in Florida, manager John Gibbons would love to see them rejoin the Blue Jays early on their next homestand, which starts Monday. "But that's just guessing and hoping," Gibbons said. ... LHP J.A. Happ (elbow inflammation) has been throwing on flat ground in Florida but has not yet been scheduled for a rehab outing, a team spokesman said.

Yankees: C Austin Romine was removed before the seventh with cramping in his right groin. Romine grimaced while running from second to third on Chase Headley's RBI single in the sixth. ... C Gary Sanchez went 2 for 4 with a home run, an RBI double and two strikeouts in his first Triple-A rehab game. Sanchez, sidelined since April 8 because of a strained right biceps, caught seven innings as scheduled before being pulled. He is expected to do the same Wednesday and then be the DH in the minors on Thursday. He could be activated from the disabled list for this weekend's series at the Chicago Cubs, and manager Joe Girardi said his inkling is maybe to put Sanchez back in the 2-hole when he returns to the lineup. ... Slumping 1B Greg Bird was put on the 10-day DL with a bruised right ankle.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays: RHP Marcus Stroman (2-2, 2.97 ERA) pitches the rubber game of the series Wednesday night. Stroman, who grew up nearby on Long Island, is 5-2 with a 2.17 ERA in eight career starts against the Yankees.

Yankees: LHP CC Sabathia (2-1, 4.34) gave up seven earned runs last Friday against Baltimore, doubling his total from his first four starts this season. The 36-year-old Sabathia is 15-9 with a 3.32 ERA in 26 career games against Toronto.

(© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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