Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees on Tuesday held a lively clubhouse party to cheer another American League East title with a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, while the St Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-2 to clinch the National League Central title.
In Toronto, Judge walked four times and stayed at 60 homers, one shy of Roger Maris’ American League record.
“I’ll take four walks for a win every day,” said Judge, who scored twice.
Photo: AP
The Yankees won their first division championship since 2019 and 20th overall, tied for second-most with the Los Angeles Dodgers behind the Atlanta Braves’ 21. New York (95-59) secured a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the division series.
“We knew this was coming, but it’s only step one,” Judge said.
The Yankees marked the clinching with loud, splashy fun in the visiting clubhouse at Rogers Centre, with beer and sparkling wine flowing freely.
“This is a big moment,” Judge said as beer dripped off his backward cap.
Manager Aaron Boone, who carried a glass of Prosecco to his post-game news conference, certainly agreed.
“We can say we’re the best team in the best division this year, and it wasn’t easy,” Boone said. “We took everyone’s punches. We had some low moments, but tonight is to be celebrated. It’s not easy going through the American League East and surviving.”
Judge lined out in his first at-bat and then drew four straight walks in his seventh straight game without a home run. He has walked 11 times in 30 plate appearances since hitting homer No. 60 against the Pittsburgh Pirates last week.
All five of Judge’s plate appearances went to full counts — he saw 33 pitches, 14 strikes. His longest drought without a home run this year was nine games last month.
Despite the loss, Toronto (87-68) maintained their place atop the American League wild-card standings.
In the National League, the Cardinals had finally separated themselves from the Brewers early last month after chasing them for much of the season, and they have not looked back since, turning what had been a nip-and-tuck race into something of a runaway.
Most Valuable Player contender Paul Goldschmidt went 2 for 4 with a pair of RBIs as the Cardinals clinched their division title behind six strong innings from Miles Mikolas.
“With the guys that we have and the veteran leadership, we knew that as soon as we smelled some blood right there and we took that lead, we knew we could run away with it,” Mikolas said.
Andrew Knizner hit a two-run homer to break out of an 0-for-22 slump as St Louis sealed their first division crown since 2019 and fourth straight playoff berth by defeating the team that won last year’s National League Central championship. This marks the third straight year the Cardinals have wrapped up a post-season spot with a victory over the Brewers.
The Cardinals (90-65) guaranteed themselves at least a tie with second-placed Milwaukee (82-72), and now they own the tiebreaker because the victory on Tuesday gave St Louis an insurmountable 10-8 lead in the season series.
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from
The former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani on Thursday was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly US$17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers player’s bank account. Ippei Mizuhara, who was supposed to bridge the gap between the Japanese athlete and his English-speaking teammates and fans, was sentenced in federal court in Santa Ana to four years and nine months after pleading guilty last year. He was ordered to pay US$18 million in restitution, with nearly US$17 million going to Ohtani and the remainder to the US Internal Revenue Service. He was
The 40-year-old LeBron James on Thursday became the oldest player to score 40 points in an NBA game, putting up a season-high 42 in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-112 victory over the Golden State Warriors. James passed the record held by Michael Jordan, his idol and the only other NBA player to score 40 after his 40th birthday. “I’m old, that’s my take,” James said when asked about his latest achievement. “I need a glass of wine and some sleep, that’s what I think.” Jordan did it for the Washington Wizards just three days after turning 40 in February 2003. James is 38
SPEEDSKATER: Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s run at the Asian Winter Games without a medal since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990 Speedskater Chen Ying-chu yesterday made history as the first athlete representing Taiwan to secure a medal at the Asian Winter Games. Competing at the HIC Speedskating Oval in Harbin, China, Chen clocked 10.510 seconds in the women’s 100m event, finishing third behind South Koreans Lee Na-hyum and Kim Min-sun, who posted times of 10.501 and 10.505 seconds respectively. Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s drought at the Asian Winter Games since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990. This year’s Games mark Chen’s debut at the event. Previously excelling in roller speedskating, she won six medals at world championships before transitioning
RSS