Aaron Judge Hits 2 HR In Yankee Win; Jay Bruce's Slam, 2 HR Not Enough In Mets Loss At Atlanta

Players of the Day for Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Judge's 12 HRs lead AL

American League

Aaron Judge isn't letting up after his sizzling start in April.

On just the second day of May, Judge touched off another pair of home runs, giving him the AL lead with 12 and helping the Yankees hammer the Blue Jays, 11-5.

The red-hot rookie put the Yankees up 6-0 with a solo shot in the second and finished New York's scoring with a three-run bomb to right in the seventh, giving him four RBI for the game and 25 overall, second to Miguel Sano (27) in the American League. Judge finished 2-for-4 with three runs. He's batting .313.

Coupled with Boston's 5-2 win over the Orioles, the win put the Yankees back into a first place tie with Baltimore in the AL East.

Toronto and New York will complete their three-game series on Wednesday with the rubber game, starting at 7:00 pm ET at Yankee Stadium.

National League

Bruce: 2HR, GS, 6RBI

To say the New York Mets have had their share of struggles this season would probably be an understatement as the team finds itself in last place in the NL East with a record of 11-15 after Tuesday's 9-7 loss at Atlanta

A rash of injuries - most recently to starting pitcher, Noah Syndergaard - and a severe lack of hitting have contributed to the slow start. The Mets' .220 batting average is the worst in the National League and a 4.73 ERA is 14th of 15 NL teams.

Even when the Mets hit, as they did Tuesday, it's often not enough, as evidenced by Jay Bruce's effort, going 2-for-5 with a pair of home runs and six RBI. Bruce is batting .293 with nine homers and 22 RBI.

Bruce socked a two-run homer in the first inning and belted a grand slam in the ninth, accounting for six of New York's seven runs. Unfortunately for Bruce and the Mets, the Braves touched up starter Matt Harvey for six runs over 5 1/3 innings and added three more against four Mets' relievers.

Atlanta got out of last place and put the Mets there with the win. The Braves are 11-14, 1/2 game better than the Mets. The series is tied at 1-1, with game three of the four-game set scheduled for Wednesday at 7:35 pm ET.