NEW YORK – Aaron Judge broke out of a slump with his 34th home run, regaining sole possession of the major league lead, and Chase Headley sparked the New York Yankees at the plate Monday night in their 7-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
Luis Severino beat Michael Fulmer in a matchup of young All-Stars on the mound, though neither was at his best. Hours after the Yankees upgraded their rotation by acquiring Sonny Gray from Oakland at the trade deadline, Headley put the AL East leaders ahead to stay with a two-run double in a four-run fourth inning aided by second baseman Ian Kinsler’s crucial error.
Todd Frazier followed with a two-run single, and Judge hit a solo shot in the fifth to snap a tie with Miami slugger Giancarlo Stanton atop the leaderboard. Headley finished with three hits as New York won for the ninth time in 11 games.
Severino (8-4) needed a career-high 116 pitches to get through five innings but still won his third consecutive start. He allowed one run and struck out eight.
The right-hander was checked by a trainer early after grabbing at his leg, but appeared to be fine the rest of the way.