Aaron Judge's 3-HR game helps Yanks avoid worst skid since 1913 - ESPN

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge had his first big league three-homer game and tied his career high with six RBIs, almost single-handedly breaking the New York Yankees' first nine-game losing streak in 41 years with a 9-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night.

Two hours after general manager Brian Cashman called the season «a disaster,» Judge drove a first-inning curveball from MacKenzie Gore over the Yankees bullpen in right-center.

Judge made it 6-0 in the second with his fifth career grand slam, a shot into the netting above Monument Park in center field. In the seventh, he combined with DJ LeMahieu for back-to-back homers against Jose A. Ferrer, popping the ball over the short porch in right field, just inside the foul pole.

Judge became the third player in MLB history to hit three home runs in a win that snapped his team's losing streak of at least nine games, joining Freddie Patek (1980) and Eddie Mathews (1952). He is also the first Yankees player with three home runs, including a grand slam in a game since Alex Rodriguez on April 26, 2005.

Judge is hitting .279 with 27 homers and 54 RBIs in 72 games. The reigning AL MVP, who has 32 multihomer games, entered in a 3-for-19 slide. He missed nearly eight weeks because of a sprained right big toe and returned before the injury fully healed.

Last-place New York (61-65) had been within a loss of what would have been its first 10-game losing streak since 1913, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Before Judge's first homer, the Yankees had gone 61 innings without leading since Aug. 14 at Atlanta, the third-longest stretch in franchise history behind 63 from Aug. 16-23, 1906, and 62 from Sept. 25 to Oct. 1, 2000.

Luis Severino allowed one hit and matched a