Juan Soto drove in three runs with a double that broke a tie in the seventh inning, leading the New York Yankees to a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday to complete a weekend sweep in a rain-shortened game.
Aaron Judge started the scoring with a home run off Tarik Skubal, who struck out a career-high 12 batters over six innings. The game was called following a 56-minute delay in the middle of the eighth after the teams played through steady showers much of the day.
The win improved the Yankees to a season-high 10 games over .500 after completing a 17-day stretch without a break in the schedule.
“Wins are precious in this league,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s really good to shake hands three times heading into an off day. It does a lot for the soul.”
New York loaded the bases against reliever Shelby Miller (3-4) in the seventh before Soto lined Andrew Chafin’s sinker down the right-field line to break a 2-all tie.
“I think I just like big moments,” Soto said. “I like to be up there, and it gives me a little bit of adrenaline, and I want to get the job done so bad.”
The Yankees loaded the bases again but were unable to capitalize in a half-inning that took more than 30 minutes. Soto leads the team with 28 RBIs.
Victor González (2-1) retired the final batter in the top of the seventh, and Dennis Santana pitched a scoreless eighth for his second save.
Despite steady rain throughout the game, the matchup between left-handers Skubal and Nestor Cortes was tight until the seventh when both pitchers were lifted.
Cortes left with two on and one out before Spencer Torkelson greeted Ian Hamilton with an RBI double, cutting New York’s lead to 2-1. Javier Báez followed a walk to Colt Keith with an RBI groundout.
Cortes was charged with two runs on three hits and a walk in 6 1/3 innings, striking out nine.
“To the righties, I was able to locate both sides of the plate, and to lefties, the slider was really good,” Cortes said.
Aaron Judge, who was ejected Saturday for the first time in his career, returned with a strong performance, hitting a solo shot into the right-field seats in his first at-bat. His seventh home run of the year was the first given up by Skubal in a month.
“It’s impressive, man. It’s fun competing against guys like that, especially the young ace of the team,” Judge said. “I’m looking forward to more battles with him, that’s for sure.”
Judge finished the series 5 for 10, raising his batting average from .197 to .220.
The Yankees scored again in the second on Oswaldo Cabrera’s run-scoring double. Skubal allowed two runs and six hits with no walks.
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