Aaron Judge's Grand Slam Paces Yankees; Reds' Adam Duvall Homers Twice In Win Over Phillies

Players of the Day for Sunday, May 28, 2017

American League

Judge: Yankee Slammer

With Boston's winning streak ended at six by the Mariners, 5-0, and Baltimore's losing streak extending to seven games, being swept at Houston, 8-4, the New York Yankees padded their lead in the AL East to three games over the Red Sox, 4 1/2 over the Orioles with a solid, 9-5 victory over Oakland.

Setting the tone early, rookie Aaron Judge mashed his 16th home run of the season, a third inning grand slam that put the Yankees up, 5-2. Judge's gavel-banger tied him for the home run lead in the majors with LA's Mike Trout. His .321 batting average is seventh-best in the AL and a total of 34 RBI is tied for sixth in the league with the Angels' Albert Pujols.

The Yankees took the three game series two games to one. Judge's grand slam was his first.

Baltimore welcomes the Yankees to Camden Yards on Monday, beginning a three-game series crucial to the Orioles, as they have been sliding badly since May 10, falling from first to third place, losing 13 of their last 16. Game one game time is 1:00 pm ET.

National League

Duvall: 2 HR, 5 RBI

With Milwaukee leading the NL Central by 1 1/2 over the Cardinals and Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, just 2 1/2 out, believe they have a legitimate chance to win the wide-open division, especially after their 8-4 rip at Philadelphia, taking the series, two games to one.

The Reds have good reason to be confident, as they possess a slugging lineup. Cincinnati belted five long balls in the win, one by Scott Schleber, tying him with Washington's Bryce Harper for the league lead with 15, two by rookie Patrick Kivlehan, and two by Adam Duvall, who socked his 12th and 13th - both two-run shots - and earlier singled in the Reds' first run in the first inning, going 3-for-4 with five RBI on the day.

Duvall tied Arizona's Jake Lamb and Colorado's Mark Reynolds for second in NL RBI with 43, trailing the Rockies' Charlie Blackmon (45).

Duvall's homers came in the third and fifth innings, the first tying the game at 4-all, the second giving the Reds the lead for good, at 7-4.

With all the booming bats in the Reds' lineup, Joey Votto's is surely not forgotten. Votto quietly has 12 homes and 39 RBI. Cincinnati's 67 homers is tied for fourth in the league with Colorado and the Mets.

Winners of three of their last four, Cincinnati heads North to Toronto for a three-game interleague series, starting Monday at 7:07 pm ET.