NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge became the first big leaguer with 40 homers this season, smashed a grand slam for No. 41 and robbed a home run in right field as the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Kansas City Royals 11-5. Isiah Kiner-Falefa lined a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning as New York completed its major league-leading 29th comeback victory. A free agent at the end of the season, Judge is on pace for 66 home runs, which would top Roger Maris’ club record of 61 in 1961. Judge, Maris and Babe Ruth in 1928 are the only Yankees with at least 40 homers by the end of July, per MLB.com.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nolan Gorman and Lars Nootbaar hit back-to-back homers in the sixth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 6-2. Washington’s Juan Soto went 1 for 4 in what could be his final homestand with Tuesday’s trade deadline looming. The Nationals were 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position. Miles Mikolas allowed two runs in seven innings for St. Louis, which won consecutive games for the first time since July 15-16. Aníbal Sánchez lost his third consecutive start for Washington, which is a majors-worst 34-67.
DENVER (AP) — Will Smith and Trayce Thompson each hit a two-run homer, Julio Urías pitched seven strong innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers continued their torrid July with a 5-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Friday night. The Dodgers overcame 13 runners left on base and a shaky ninth inning by Craig Kimbrel to improve to 20-4 this month and 67-32 overall, both the best marks in the majors. Smith added a single and reached base four times, while Urías (10-6) used a fastball-changeup-curveball mix to hold the Rockies to two runs and four hits. Urías has allowed three runs over 20 innings in his last three starts to lower his ERA to 2.71.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff says his conference is far from finished, despite the defections of Southern California and UCLA. Kliavkoff confirmed the Pac-12 is actively exploring expansion during an eventful, occasionally feisty opening speech at his conference’s football media day in the nation’s second-largest media market. While painting a promising picture of the league’s future even after USC and UCLA leave for the Big Ten in 2024, Kliavkoff also threw several jabs at the Big 12. The commissioner said he had spent the past month “trying to defend against grenades being lobbed in from every corner of the Big 12 trying to destabilize our conference.”
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Pac-12 pushed for legislation allowing conference title games to be played without requiring divisions, and it was the first conference to take advantage of it, deciding to have the two teams with the best records this season play against one another in Las Vegas on Dec. 2. However, it has yet to outline the exact rules that will determine what happens if multiple teams have the same record. The Pac-12’s senior associate commissioner overseeing football said the forthcoming criteria will be exclusively based on conference results.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kyle Busch is getting antsy about not having a contract next season. NASCAR's only active driver with multiple Cup championships has been unable to extend his deal with Joe Gibbs Racing because the team is still seeking a sponsor for Busch. But he said Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway that he's willing to take a pay cut and drive for less than his market value, as well as make other concessions, in his bid to secure a job for 2023. It's late enough in the process that Busch is talking to teams other than Gibbs.
SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Mariners have acquired perhaps the top starting pitcher on the trade market, getting All-Star Luis Castillo from the payroll-paring Cincinnati Reds for four minor league prospects. Cincinnati obtained infielders Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo, and right-handers Levi Stoudt and Andrew Moore. Marte was the Mariners’ top-rated prospect, Arroyo was third and Stoudt fifth. Seattle has not been to the playoffs since 2001, the longest postseason drought in the four major North American pro sports.
FRIDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Baltimore 6 Cincinnati 2
Final Milwaukee 4 Boston 1
Final San Diego 10 Minnesota 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Cleveland 4 Tampa Bay 1
Final N.Y. Yankees 11 Kansas City 5
Final Detroit 4 Toronto 2
Final Oakland 7 Chicago White Sox 3
Final Houston 11 Seattle 1
Final Texas 7 L.A. Angels 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final St. Louis 6 Washington 2
Final N.Y. Mets 6 Miami 4
Final Atlanta 5 Arizona 2
Final Philadelphia 4 Pittsburgh 2
Final L.A. Dodgers 5 Colorado 4
Final Chicago Cubs 4 San Francisco 2