Judge stuck at 60 HRs but Yankees still rout Pirates

NEW YORK (AP) — A sellout crowd of 46,175 groaned as Aaron Judge left the batter’s box in the first and fifth innings.

“Fans packed it out to see us win a ballgame and see some homers,” he said with a widening smile and a twinkle in his eyes, “so I think I got to cut out this double stuff, I guess.”

Judge remained at 60 home runs, one shy of Roger Maris’ American League record, hitting two doubles with a walk in Wednesday night's 14-2 blowout of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

A day after hitting home run No. 60 to spark a stunning five-run, ninth-inning rally capped by Giancarlo Stanton’s game-ending slam, Judge lined a double to left on the first pitch to him from Roasny Contreras (5-5) and scored on Oswaldo Cabrera's grand slam.

Cabrera and Gleyber Torres had five RBIs each. Torres homered twice in the eighth inning, one to right and one to left, raising his season total to 23.

With 14 games left, Judge leads the AL in average (.317), home runs and RBIs (128) and is positioned to become the first Triple Crown winner in a decade.

Maris’ sons and Judge’s family were in the stands. Applause started whenever Judge walked onto the on-deck circle, and fans stood and snapped photos in anticipation during each trip to the plate.

Judge faced just 11 pitches, putting the first pitch in play three times.

“It felt like waiting for that big moment,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Judge hit a one-hop double over the wall in the left-field corner in the fifth and scored on Torres' single. He also struck out and grounded out, then got one more time at-bat as the eighth batter in eight-run eighth. A four-pitch walk by rookie Eric Stout — all chanegups — promoted boos.

“I’m not going to give in 2-0, 3-0 and throw him something,