Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 44th home run, and Gerrit Cole struck out eight in six innings as the New York Yankees defeated the Detroit Tigers 3-0 on Friday night.
Oswald Peraza also hit a home run in his first game of the season for the Yankees, who are now 4-0 against Detroit. New York won its third straight game and took a one-game lead in the AL East over Baltimore, which lost 12-10 to Boston.
“It’s a blessing to be a pitcher for the Yankees,” Cole said.
Just one game after hitting his 300th career home run, Judge connected for his 301st in the eighth inning. His 431-foot shot over the first row of shrubs on top of the center-field fence made the score 3-0.
Top prospects Jace Jung and Trey Sweeney made their major league debuts for the Tigers at third base and shortstop, respectively.
This was the first time Detroit had debuted two infielders on the same day since Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell began their careers together on September 9, 1977.
“I think we saw a lot of good things from them,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “They played under control and they did their thing.”
Cole (4-2) allowed four hits and walked two batters, both of whom were Jung. Three relievers finished the game for New York, with Clay Holmes closing out the ninth inning for his 26th save.
“I think he did a really good job of being under control,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “He had a real good fastball-curveball combo tonight and he mixed in some sliders.”
The Yankees took a 1-0 lead on Alex Verdugo’s sacrifice fly off Tigers opener Beau Brieske (1-3).
Peraza, who started the season on the injured list and was called up from the minors on Wednesday, led off the fifth inning with a long home run over the Tigers’ bullpen.
