You’d be hard-pressed to find a better show in New York than the one Aaron Judge and Juan Soto are currently performing in the Bronx.
The Midtown match could go on forever, but who knows how long this one will last, but the pair added another to their list of awe-inspiring performances with a thumping 8-1 win over the Guardians on Wednesday.
Soto hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning for his season-high 36th, followed by Judge with a two-run homer in the third inning and a solo homer in the seventh inning for his MLB-leading 47th career homer.
The Yankees also ended their three-game losing streak and once again achieved the best record in the American League.
Soto’s home run was his eighth.
He hit a three-run double in the fourth inning to end the streak.
It came after the Stars scored consecutive runs in the first innings on Tuesday, but ultimately ended in a disastrous defeat.
This time around, Nestor Cortes made sure to capitalize on his sluggers’ recent offensive outburst, following up his seven scoreless innings against the White Sox with another shutout against a much stronger Cleveland lineup.
Soto started in place of the injured Alex Cobb against Cleveland left-hander Joey Cantillo, making just the fourth start of his career.
Soto followed up a leadoff single by Gleyber Torres with a 427-foot home run to give the Yankees a two-run lead in the bottom of the first inning.
In the third inning, Soto walked with one out and then Judge singled to right-center field to make it 4-0.
Then Soto and the Yankees scored again in the fourth inning, this time with two outs.
Alex Verdugo and Oswaldo Peraza drew walks early in the inning, and with two outs Torres hit an infield single that Cleveland could have fought back and probably won, but it didn’t.
As expected, Soto then smashed a double down the left field line to give the Guardians a heartbreaking win.
Meanwhile, Cortes faced the minimum number of batters before getting two outs in the top of the fifth, but allowed consecutive singles to Johnkensy Noel and Andres Jimenez.
Tyler Freeman grounded out, ending Cleveland’s first threat of the night.
Cortes’ 104 pitches were even more significant given the state of the relief corps, which was forced to pitch nine innings after Luis Gil was replaced in the fourth inning of Tuesday’s 12-inning loss.
Wednesday’s game was another sign that Cortes is settling down, as he had a 9.26 ERA in the five games leading up to the White Sox game.
Cleveland’s only run came on a home run by Noel off left-hander Tim Maza in the top of the eighth inning.
