SEATTLE — Aaron Judge hit the 101st homer of his career, Gary Sanchez, D. J. LeMahieu and Mike Ford also went deep, and the Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-3, on Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep.
After opening their West Coast swing by being swept in Oakland, the Yankees rebounded to win five of six and continued to bash home runs.
Sanchez hit a towering two-run homer in the first off Seattle starter Justus Sheffield, a ball that barely stayed fair and nearly bounced out of the stadium. Ford snapped a 2-2 tie with his sixth home run in the past 14 games, and Judge, who hit his milestone 100th homer a day earlier, broke the game open with a two-run shot off reliever Matt Wisler as part of the Yankees’ four-run fifth inning.
LeMahieu added his 23rd of the season in the ninth. The Yankees have hit 70 home runs in August and raised their season total to 250, already eighth-most in major league history.
James Paxton had a shaky outing facing his former team for the first time. The big left-hander allowed only one hit on Kyle Seager’s two-run homer in the fourth inning that just eluded the reach of Judge at the fence in right field. Despite giving up just the one hit, Paxton was done after only five innings due to control problems. Paxton issued a season-high five walks, four in the fourth inning alone. He’d allowed six walks over 24⅓ innings in his previous four starts combined.
Paxton threw 86 pitches, 45 for strikes. Paxton spent his first six seasons with the Mariners, including throwing a no-hitter last year, before being traded to the Yankees in the off-season.
Seattle had just one hit until Tom Murphy doubled in the ninth.
Sheffield was just as much in the spotlight as the centerpiece of what Seattle got in return in the Paxton trade. Sheffield showed flashes in his second career start, like striking out Judge looking in the first inning on a sharp slider at the knees. But he missed his spots on the pitches to Sanchez and Ford and paid for it, giving up the long ball.
INSIDE PITCH
Shortstop Didi Gregorius was expected to be held out one more day but entered the game in the fifth inning. Gregorius sustained a bruised shoulder last Sunday and Manager Aaron Boone intended to give him extra rest with the Yankees having an off day on Thursday. Gregorius walked and grounded out in his two at-bats. … Boone said reliever Dellin Betances (right lat strain) will pitch one more simulated game Saturday and will go on a minor league rehab assignment if all goes well. … C. C. Sabathia takes the mound when the Yankees play at home against Oakland on Friday. He is 0-4 in six starts since picking up his last win on June 24.