Judge bumps average back above .400 as Yankees rout A's

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Aaron Judge had four hits to get his average back above .400 and Ben Rice hit a grand slam to lead the New York Yankees to a 12-2 victory over the Athletics on Sunday.

Judge hit a two-run single in a five-run second inning against former teammate Luis Severino (1-4) and added hits in his final three at-bats to raise his average on the season to .409 — the fourth highest ever for a player with at least 14 homers in the first 40 games of a season.

The Yankees broke the game open in the fifth inning when Rice hit his first career grand slam after Mitch Spence had relieved an ineffective Severino.

The former Yankees starter struggled in his first career start against his former team, matching a career worst with eight earned runs allowed in four-plus innings.

Ryan Yarbrough (1-0) allowed two runs in five innings in his second start of the season to get the win.

JJ Bleday homered for the A's, who fell to 8-13 at home this season.

Key moment

The Yankees took control of the game in the second inning with an RBI single by Anthony Volpe, a bases-loaded walk by Oswaldo Cabrera and a run-scoring groundout by Jorbit Vivas. Judge then delivered the big hit with a line single that drove in two runs, giving him 39 RBIs this season.

Key stat

Paul Goldschmidt had three doubles and has now hit safely in all 19 road games he has played this season. The only other Yankees to do that are Derek Jeter with 23 straight to open the 2007 season and Jack Lelivelt with 21 in 1912.

Up next

The Yankees open a three-game series in Seattle on Monday night with RHP Clarke Schmidt (0-1, 4.79) set to start. The A's start a three-game series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers on Tuesday night with LHP Jeffrey Springs (4-3, 4.81) set to start the opener.

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