Jul 16, 2019 3 min read

Aaron Judge hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning, Didi Gregorius followed with a grand slam and the New York Yankees beat Tampa Bay 8-3 Tuesday night after another surly clash between CC Sabathia and the Rays.

A pitch after slicing a would-be homer foul by about two feet, Judge smashed a 3-2 pitch from left-hander Colin Poche (2-3) into the right-center field seats to make it 4-3. It was Judge’s 10th homer, and he carried the bat nearly all the way to first base before tossing it down and shouting into New York’s dugout.

Gregorius took a curtain call after hitting a long grand slam later in the inning that ended a 1-for-23 skid. Edwin Encarnacion hit his 28th homer and third in two games, DJ LeMahieu also went deep, and New York stretched its AL East lead over Tampa Bay to six games.

Yandy Diaz hit a solo homer and an RBI double, and All-Star Austin Meadows delivered his 14th homer for Tampa Bay.

Benches cleared during the sixth inning amid a shouting match between Sabathia and hitter Avisail Garcia. After Sabathia struck out Garcia looking to strand two runners, the 38-year-old barked and pointed at Garcia. Sabathia was restrained by Gregorius and never got close to Garcia while both benches and bullpens emptied. No punches were thrown.

Sabathia was ejected for plunking the Rays’ Jesus Sucre during his last regular season start in 2018 and has had a few salty run-ins with Tampa Bay this season, including when he threw at Meadows three times and shouted insults during a game in May.

Sabathia allowed three runs in six innings and struck out six. He has a 2.63 ERA in eight starts against the Rays over the past two seasons.

Washington 8 Baltimore 1: Matt Adams and Juan Soto homered, rookie Austin Voth extended a streak of strong performances by Washington’s rotation and the Nationals breezed past the neighboring Baltimore Orioles 8-1.

Though the Nationals and Orioles play in stadiums located just 40 miles apart, the gap between their talent and expectations is far wider. Eagerly chasing a playoff berth, Washington has won 13 of 16 and owns the third-best record in the National League.

The Orioles, in the first year of a major rebuild, possess the worst home mark in the majors (12-35) and worst overall record (28-66).

Recalled from Double-A Harrisburg before the game, Voth (1-0) allowed one run and four hits over six innings. He walked one and hit two batters, all in an eventful but scoreless first inning.

Washington starters are unbeaten since June 15, have allowed one earned run or fewer in 11 of their last 16 outings and have a combined 1.78 ERA over the last 11 games.