NEW YORK — Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 53rd homer, and the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 5-2 on Sunday to open a three-game AL East lead over second-place Baltimore.
Judge, whose 132 RBIs also top the major leagues, homered twice in three games followed a career-high 16-game homerless streak and helped Carlos Rodón get his career-best 15th win.
New York (87-63) took three of four from the Red Sox and headed on the road for a seven-game trip to Seattle and Oakland on the verge of clinching a postseason berth after failing to reach the playoffs last year for the first time since 2016.
Tyler O'Neill hit a two-run homer for the Red Sox (75-75), who dropped 4 1/2 games behind Minnesota (79-70) for the final AL wild card spot.
Wearing No. 21 on Roberto Clemente Day, Judge hit a two-run shot in a three-run third off Kutter Crawford (8-15) on an 0-1 fastball. The 445-foot drive soared off the glass of the center-field restaurant that serve's as the batter's eye and fell onto the netting above Monument Park behind center field for a 4-0 lead.
After Boston manager Alex Cora admitted before the game Brayan Bello tried hitting Judge on purpose in the sixth inning Saturday on a pitch that was behind the slugger, Judge carried his bat about halfway down the line before dropping it as he approached first base.
''It's a big homer,'' Judge said. ''We're playing the Red Sox. This is a big rival, big games, big moment. So I'm just having some fun with the moment.''
Judge joined Babe Ruth (1921, 1927), Roger Maris (1961), Mickey Mantle (1961) as Yankees with at least 53 homers through New York's first 150 games.