Aaron Judge, Trent Grisham hit clutch HRs, Yankees beat Dodgers 6-4 to avoid sweep

The Yankees powered their way to a 6-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday night to avoid the three-game sweep.

Here are some takeaways…

– Oswaldo Cabrera started the scoring in the bottom of the third with a solo homer to right field off Dodgers ace Tyler Glasnow, giving the Yanks a 1-0 lead. After two quick outs, Alex Verdugo doubled to keep the inning alive. Aaron Judge came through with a deep line drive to center, and got some help from Andy Pages who misplayed the ball a bit, to make it a 2-0 game.

– Luis Gil made it through most of the Dodgers’ lineup twice, including strikeouts of Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani, before getting into some trouble in the top of the fifth inning. Gil let up a one-out double to Pages and a single to Gavin Lux, but then recorded a strikeout for out number two. Betts then doubled in his third at-bat to tie the game at 2-2. Gil avoided more damage by getting Ohtani to fly out to left field for the third out.

– After two quick outs to start the sixth, Gil allowed a solo home run to Teoscar Hernandez (his third in the series after two on Saturday) and the Dodgers took a 3-2 lead.

Gil’s night came to an end after the homer, as he allowed three runs on five hits with five strikeouts and one walk over 96 pitches and 5.2 IP. The young star’s ERA increased from 1.82 to 2.04 after the outing.

– Verdugo and Judge hit back-to-back singles in bottom of the sixth, and after Giancarlo Stanton struck out, Trent Grisham crushed a three-run homer off Glasnow to give the Yanks a 5-3 lead. Glasnow let up another single, but then struck out DJ LeMahieu and Cabrera to stop the bleeding.

– Luke Weaver allowed a leadoff double to Ohtani in the eighth, and he’d advance to third on Freddie Freeman‘s groundout. Weaver then let up a sac fly to Will Smith, as Judge’s throw from right nearly got Ohtani at home, but the Dodgers made it a one-run game, trailing 5-4. The reliever then struck out the hot-hitting Hernandez for the third out.

– Judge put his stamp on the series in the bottom of the eighth with a monster home run to left field, giving the Yanks a 6-4 lead. It was his MLB-leading 24th homer of the year.

– Clay Holmes let up two, two-out singles in the top of the ninth, but struck out Betts on a slider to end the game and give the Yanks the win.

MVP of the Game: Aaron Judge

Judge’s homer in the eighth sealed the game for the Yanks and helped the team avoid a sweep. It was career HR No. 281 for the slugger, which is two more than any other player in MLB history over their first 1,000 games… And this was Judge’s 902nd career game (h/t Sarah Langs).

Highlights

Upcoming schedule

The Yankees will travel to Kansas City and begin a four-game series with the Royals on Monday at 8:10 p.m.

Lefty Carlos Rodon (8-2, 3.08 ERA) will get the start for NY, while veteran Seth Lugo (9-1, 2.13 ERA) will take the mound for KC.