WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Aaron Judge had four hits to get his average back above .400 and Ben Rice hit a grand slam to lead the New York Yankees to a 12-2 victory over the Athletics on Sunday.
Judge hit a two-run single in a five-run second inning against former teammate Luis Severino (1-4) and added hits in his final three at-bats to raise his average on the season to .409 — the fourth highest ever for a player with at least 14 homers in the first 40 games of a season.
The Yankees broke the game open in the fifth inning when Rice hit his first career grand slam after Mitch Spence had relieved an ineffective Severino.
The former Yankees starter struggled in his first career start against his former team, matching a career worst with eight earned runs allowed in four-plus innings.
Ryan Yarbrough (1-0) allowed two runs in five innings in his second start of the season to get the win.
JJ Bleday homered for the A's, who fell to 8-13 at home this season.
Key moment
The Yankees took control of the game in the second inning with an RBI single by Anthony Volpe, a bases-loaded walk by Oswaldo Cabrera and a run-scoring groundout by Jorbit Vivas. Judge then delivered the big hit with a line single that drove in two runs, giving him 39 RBIs this season.
