Aaron Judge Leads League In AVG, HR, RBI As Yankees Storm AL; Corey Seager's Slam Delivers Dodgers

Players of the Day for Sunday, June 11, 2017

American League

With Boston losing to Detroit, 8-3, the New York Yankees expanded their lead in the AL East to four games with a 14-3 rip against the visiting Orioles.

Judge: Triple Crown?

It was the second straight game in which the Bombers put up double digits on the Birds, whacking them by a 16-3 score on Saturday. The Yanks completed the sweep, having won Friday night's contest, 8-2. The win was the fifth straight for New York, having taken the last two from Boston on their visit to the Bronx.

Overall, the Yankees are absolutely putting the rest of the division to shame. In their five game run, they've outscored Boston and Baltimore by a combined score of 55-9.

Sunday's rout featured another home run barrage, including a three-run belt by Gary Sanchez, a two-run jolt by Starlin Castro, and a pair of bombs - one of which traveled 495 feet, the longest recorded this season - by rookie sensation Aaron Judge, who has been completely off the charts of late.

Judge was 4-for-4 in the game, including the two bombs, a single, and a double, four runs and three RBI. The effort put the rookie right fielder in Triple Crown territory, leading the league in batting (.344), home runs (21) and RBI (47).

As if batting .303 in April and .347 in May, Judge is blistering at a .421 pace in June.

The Yankees, who were expected to "possibly" make the playoffs by many preseason pundits, now appear the team to beat in the American League, leading in runs (353), home runs (102) and RBI (335). They're second in batting, at .275, as they head off to the West coast Monday for a seven-game road trip, playing three with the Angels and four at Oakland.

National League

Seager: Grand Slam

Beating the Reds, 9-7, the LA Dodgers completed the series sweep, 3-0, and gained a game on West division leader, Colorado, 7-5 losers at the Cubs on Sunday.

Winning was far from assured throughout the game, as the Reds built a 7-3 lead on home runs by Adam Duval, Scott Schebler, Joey Votto, and Devin Mesoraco. LA countered with a six-run uprising in the eighth inning, highlighted by Corey Seager's grand slam, which provided the ultimate margin of victory.

Cody Bellinger started the inning with a solo homer, his second long ball of the game and 15th overall. After loading the bases, Chase Utley walked, but the Dodgers were still down, 7-5. Seager, who had doubled earlier in the game, got a pitch he liked and hammered it over the center field wall, securing the win.

With their fourth straight win, the Dodgers finished the weekend trailing the Rockies by 1 1/2 games, with Arizona looming, two out. Arizona pounded Milwaukee Sunday, 13-1. Paul Goldschmidt was 3-for-4 with his 14th homer, a grand slam.

The Reds head down the coast to San Diego, starting a three-game series with the Padres Monday, before returning home on Thursday.

The Dodgers have a tough, six-game road trip beginning Tuesday, with three games in Cleveland and then a return trio at Cincinnati.