Aaron Judge ties A-Rod with 351st homer for Yankees in a 4-2 win over the Braves

ATLANTA (AP) — Aaron Judge hit his 36th home run of the season and tied Alex Rodriguez for sixth place in Yankees history as New York defeated the Atlanta Braves 4-2 Sunday.

Judge’s solo homer in the first inning was his 351st with the Yankees, matching A-Rod and behind Babe Ruth (659), Mickey Mantle (536), Lou Gehrig (493), Joe DiMaggio (361) and Yogi Berra (358).

Judge also scored from first on Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s double in the seventh and finished 1 for 4 with a walk and two runs scored.

Marcus Strohman (2-1) worked six strong innings in his fourth start since returning from a knee injury. He gave up one run on five hits with four strikeouts and no walks in his longest outing of the season.

Paul Goldschmidt was 1 for 3 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored, and Giancarlo Stanton was 3 for 5 with a run scored.

Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a solo home run, his 13th, in the ninth off Devin Williams, who earned his 14th save for the Yankees.

Matt Olson hit a 442-foot homer, his 18th, that hit the top of the Chop House in right field in the sixth inning for the Braves' other run.

Atlanta's Grant Holmes (4-9) gave up three runs on seven hits in six innings.

Key moment

Trailing 2-0 in the third, the Braves put the first two runners on with the top of the order coming up. Jurickson Profar popped a bunt up to third baseman Jorbit Vivas, and Olson hit into a double play to end the threat.

Key stat

The win kept the Yankees within three games of the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East ahead of a three-game series in Toronto starting Monday.

Up next

Yankees LHP Carlos Rodón (10-6, 3.08) will open a three-game series in Toronto against RHP Kevin Gausman (6-7, 4.19) on Monday. Braves RHP Bryce Elder (3-6. 5.65) will oppose Giants RHP Hayden Birdsong (4-3, 4.11) in the opener of a three-game series in Atlanta on Monday.

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