Aaron Judge comes off injured list before Yankees open series at Baltimore
Associated Press
The Yankees’ Aaron Judge speaks to reporters before a game against the Los Angeles Angels earlier this month.
Associated Press
The New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge smiles during batting practice July 18 in Anaheim, Calif.
The New York Yankees reinstated Aaron Judge from the injured list on Friday before they open a weekend road series against the Baltimore Orioles.
Judge had been out since tearing a ligament in his right big toe June 3 when he crashed into the right-field fence while making a catch at Dodger Stadium.
Judge played a simulated game Wednesday at the team’s complex in Tampa, Florida, and returned to New York after that, manager Aaron Boone said.
The 2022 American League MVP faced live pitching Sunday at Yankee Stadium for the first time since the injury. Boone said Judge homered during a simulated game Tuesday in Florida. He also played the field and ran the bases.
New York is 19-23 since Judge got hurt in Los Angeles. The Yankees are 30-19 with Judge, who also missed 10 games earlier this season with a right hip strain.
Judge set an AL record with 62 home runs last year. He is batting .291 with 19 homers and 40 RBIs in the first season of a $360 million, nine-year contract he signed last offseason.
To make room for Judge, the Yankees optioned infielder Oswald Peraza to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Astros get Graveman: The Houston Astros acquired reliever Kendall Graveman from the White Sox in exchange for minor league catcher Korey Lee.
General manager Dana Brown announced the trade that brought the right-handed Graveman back to Houston after he spent the last two months of the 2021 season with the Astros.
Graveman was 3-4 with eight saves and a 3.48 ERA in 45 appearances for the White Sox this season. In his first stint with the Astros after a trade from Seattle, he had a 3.13 ERA in 23 appearances.
In the 2021 postseason he had a 1.64 ERA in nine appearances, including three in the World Series.
National League
Cards’ Mikolas suspended: St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas was suspended for five games and fined an undisclosed amount by Major League Baseball for intentionally throwing at Ian Happ of the Chicago Cubs.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol was suspended for one game and fined as a result of Mikolas’ actions Thursday night. Mikolas appealed his penalties, while Marmol served his suspension Friday night against the Cubs.
In the first inning in the Cardinals’ 10-3 loss, Happ bloodied St. Louis catcher Willson Contreras when he hit him in the head with a long follow-through on a swing, then was soon hit himself by a pitch from Mikolas.
Andrew Knizner took over behind the plate for Contreras, and Mikolas brushed back Happ with the first pitch when play resumed to run the count to 3-1. With the next pitch, Mikolas hit Happ in the rear end.
Reds’ Bell get extension: Manager David Bell, who has presided over a successful turnaround in Cincinnati, received a three-year contract extension from the Reds.
The deal that runs through the 2026 season was announced Friday night before the team faced the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
The Reds are currently 56-48 and 1 ½ games behind first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central. They’re trying to become the first team in major league history to win a division title after losing at least 100 games the previous season. They were 62-100 last year, tying Pittsburgh for last in the division.
In 2021, the Reds had a record of 83-79. In 2020, they were 31-29 during the pandemic-delayed season and earned their first postseason berth since 2013. The club had winning records in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2012-13.
Bell, a 50-year-old native of Cincinnati, was hired in 2018 on a three-year deal with a club option for 2022. In 2021, the team gave him a two-year extension through this year.
Interleague
Miami 6, Detroit 5: Jon Berti’s second hit of the game was a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning, helping the Miami Marlins to a 6-5 win over the Detroit Tigers on Friday night.
Luis Arraez doubled and had two singles to raise his major league-leading batting average to .380, and Bryan De La Cruz homered and doubled and drove in three runs for the Marlins.
Miami squandered an early four-run lead before Jesús Sánchez reached on a leadoff infield single in the eighth against Tigers reliever Jason Foley (2-3) and advanced on Yuli Gurriel’s single. Berti then hit a sharp grounder past first baseman Spencer Torkelson that scored pinch-runner Garrett Hampson from second and advanced Gurriel two bases. Joey Wendle’s sacrifice fly to deep center scored Gurriel.
The Tigers had tied the game at 4 in the top of the inning when Nick Maton hit a two-run double off Marlins reliever J.T. Chargois (2-0).