In his final game at the Coliseum, Aaron Judge played emperor, with the Yankees takeover of the East nearly complete.
Taking the field for the last time at a stadium that holds special meaning for him — before the A’s bolt for Sacramento and eventually Las Vegas — the Northern California native added another chapter to his special season.
Aaron Judge homered for the Yankees during their win against the A’s on Sept. 22.
Judge crushed a home run for the second straight day — extending his major league lead to 55 — added a double that keyed a rally and scored another run to send the Yankees to a sweep of the A’s with a 7-4 win in front of 24,663 on Sunday afternoon.
“Ending it with a sweep is my favorite thing,” Judge said after going 2-for-3 with a pair of walks.
Jasson Dominguez and Gleyber Torres also homered as the Yankees (92-64) flew home on the verge of winning the division.
After an off day Monday, they will need just one win over the Orioles during their three-game series that begins Tuesday in The Bronx to clinch the AL East. The Yankees will enter the series leading the Orioles by a season-high six games with six games to play, their magic number to win the division down to one.
“We’re focused,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Everyone in that room knows what’s at stake and what the mission is and where we’re at in the calendar and the opportunity in front of us. I think guys are ready to do what we got to do to win ballgames and give ourselves a chance come October.”
The Yankees also have a magic number of three (over the Guardians) to secure the best record in the American League, which would give them home-field advantage through the ALCS.
Aaron Judge celebrates after homering against the A’s on Sept. 22.
Things got interesting late Sunday as Clay Holmes entered in the eighth inning to protect a 6-4 lead and put the first two runners on before recording an out.
Boone then called on Luke Weaver, who struck out a pair to get out of the jam and finished off the five-out save in the ninth — his fourth of the season.
The win capped off a 5-1 road trip as the Yankees went 12-3 across their two West Coast swings this season.
Luis Gil started for the Yankees during their win against the A’s on Sept. 22.
Lawrence Butler flips his bat during the A’s loss to the Yankees on Sept. 22.
Luis Gil was not his sharpest version Sunday, giving up four runs on five hits and three walks across 5 ¹/₃ innings. He left with a pair of runners on in the sixth inning and a 5-2 lead, but both runs came around to score when Ian Hamilton gave up a double to pinch hitter Ryan Noda.
But the Yankees gave Gil enough run support to record his 15th win, with Judge having a lot to do with that.
It was a 2-2 game in the third inning when Judge, a native of Linden, Calif. (roughly 80 miles from the Coliseum), belted a solo shot to dead center field off right-hander Joey Estes for the 3-2 lead.
Judge had taken batting practice with the Yankees here back in 2013, shortly after they drafted him with their first-round pick, and now he was closing out his Coliseum career in style.
The Yankees swept the A’s and finished their West Coast trip with a 5-1 record.
After going a career-high 16 games without a home run, Judge has belted four in nine games since, batting .393 (11-for-28) with a 1.481 OPS during that stretch.
Torres led off the fifth inning with a home run and Juan Soto was hit by a pitch before Judge roped a double to left field, which ultimately set up a sacrifice fly from Jazz Chisholm Jr. that made it 5-2.
Judge later walked in the seventh inning and came around to score on Giancarlo Stanton’s double that put the Yankees up 6-4.
Gil struggled with his command early, which allowed the A’s to take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. He got the first two outs before issuing back-to-back walks to JJ Bleday and Shea Langeliers.
Tyler Soderstrom then drilled a double off the right-center field wall that drove in both runs.
But the Yankees came right back to tie it in the top of the second, as Dominguez drilled a two-run homer to right field — his second of this road trip.
