NEW YORK — Giancarlo Stanton hit a three-run homer after Aaron Judge was intentionally walked in the fifth inning, Juan Soto went deep twice, Judge hit his MLB-best 42nd homer and the New York Yankees hung on for an 8-7 victory over the Texas Rangers on Sunday.
Judge reached base four times, marking the 41st time he reached base at least three times this season. He singled twice and homered for the first time since Aug. 3 — when Toronto walked him with two outs and nobody on base in the second inning following his 41st homer.
The Yankees moved back into a tie for first place with the Baltimore Orioles.
Playing in his ninth game since missing 28 with a hamstring injury, Stanton tied a season high with four RBIs and homered in consecutive games for the first time since June 11-12 in Kansas City to reach 20 homers for the 13th time in his first 15 seasons.
Stanton fell down to one knee and lined Jose LeClerc's 2-2 slider into the left field seats to become the 17th player in baseball history to hit 20 homers in 13 of his first 15 seasons. He also became the third player to have 13 20-homer seasons since 2010.
Stanton homered after Judge was intentionally walked for the sixth time in the last eight games and 13th time overall.
''It's part of the game,'' Stanton said. ''He's an all-time talent. So that happens. I got to do what happened today in order for it not to happen. It's part of the game. You have some fun with it.''
Judge agreed.