Yankees slugger still stuck on 60

Guardians celebrate AL Central title, Mariners rocked

Aaron Judge was due up next for the New York Yankees when their game Sunday night against the Boston Red Sox went into a long rain delay after six innings. They eventually called it a night, and a 2-0 Yankees victory.

With the star slugger still at 60 home runs, one short of Roger Maris’ American League record for a season, many in the sellout crowd of 46,707 stuck around until the bitter end at Yankee Stadium while thunder and lightning flashes accompanied the heavy storm.

Judge finished 1 for 2 with a double and a walk. The game marked his final chance to catch Maris on New York’s current homestand — the Yankees play a three-game series in Toronto beginning Monday night, then return home for three against Baltimore next weekend before wrapping up the regular season at Texas.

Judge has gone five games without a home run since connecting for No. 60 last Tuesday night against Pittsburgh.

Guardians

Asturdy pair of goggles was mandatory attire Sunday in Cleveland’s clubhouse, where impromptu showers of champagne and beer broke out inside a thick haze of cigar smoke. The Guardians, baseball’s youngest team, finished an unexpected run to the top of the AL Central.

Rookie Steven Kwan hit a grand slam and drove in a season-high five runs as the Guardians clinched a division championship no one thought possible six months ago with a 10-4 win over the Texas Rangers.

When catcher Luke Maile squeezed Josh Smith’s foul pop for the final out, the Guardians began celebrating a title that actually became official 15 minutes earlier following second-place Chicago’s loss to the Detroit Tigers.

Tied for first on Sept. 4, the Guardians have won seven straight and ripped off 18 wins in 21 games to open a 10-game lead and run away with the division.

“This team’s good. We’re not just young. We’re pretty good,” said starter Cal Quantrill, the club leader with 14 wins. “I don’t think anybody’s excited to face us right now. We’re playing our best baseball. We’re playing baseball the right way.”

Orioles

The last two games of the regular season at Camden Yards included playoff-like tension. In that sense, they were an ideal tune-up for the Houston Astros, and a valuable — if painful — learning experience for the young Baltimore Orioles.

Christian Vázquez hit a basesloaded single to cap a four-run 11th inning for Houston, and the Astros went on to a 6-3 victory over the Orioles on Sunday. The Orioles’ post-season hopes took another blow, missing a chance to move up in the AL wild-card standings. They remained four games behind Seattle for the third and final spot after the Mariners blew a nine-run lead in a loss at Kansas City.

Houston ended the regular season 51-30 on the road.

Mariners

Luis Castillo, fresh off signing a rich contract with Seattle, got chased as the Kansas City Royals erupted for 11runs in the sixth inning and a wild 13-12 win that cost the Mariners a chance to move up in the AL wildcard standings. The Mariners stayed in the third wild-card spot, a half-game behind Tampa Bay. Seattle remained four games ahead of Baltimore for that last AL playoff slot. “We haven’t played good baseball on this trip,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said.