NEW YORK — Aaron Judge became the second-fastest player to hit 200 home runs in the majors, and the New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 8-2 on Saturday.
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DJ LeMahieu homered and added an RBI single, while Matt Carpenter homered for the 15th time in 40 games for New York, who posted his third victory after losing a pair of games against the Mets of the same city.
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The American League-leading Yankees have won seven straight against the Royals and 10 of the last 11.
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Whit Merrifield doubled in the third inning to reach 1,000 career hits. Salvador Pérez added a sacrifice fly to the cause of the Royals, who nevertheless suffered their fifth consecutive stumble.
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Judge, who became the first major leaguer to hit 40 home runs this season on Friday, fouled off two curveballs from starter Jonathan Heasley before finding a 2-2 fastball to send the ball to the seats, between right and center field.
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The two-run shot came in the second inning. It was one of two hits for Judge who also managed a couple of walks.
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Cuban Néstor Cortés (9-3) gave up two runs in five innings. He dished out five strikeouts and handed out a couple of walks.
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He has a 2.60 ERA in five starts in July.
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Heasley (1-6), who had missed 17 games with right shoulder tendinitis, gave up six runs in 3 1/3 innings. He made his first start since July 9.
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For the Royals, the Venezuelans Pérez 3-0 with an RBI, Maikel López 3-1 with a run scored.
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For the Yankees, Venezuelan Gleyber Torres 5-1 with an RBI.
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