Blue Jays beat Yankees 8-5, overcome Judge's 40th home run as Torres pulled after 3 innings

NEW YORK (AP) — Ernie Clement had three early RBIs off faltering Marcus Stroman, and the Toronto Blue Jays overcame Aaron Judge’s major league-leading 40th home run to beat the Yankees 8-5 Friday night and stop New York’s five-game winning streak.

“He’s an aggressive hitter and he’s swinging early,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “He’s doing a good job of recognizing that and kind of getting pitches a little bit more in the zone.”

Judge’s two-run, first-inning homer off Kevin Gausman, a 477-footer drive halfway up the left-field bleachers, gave him a big league-best 101 RBIs.

“If it came with a win tonight that have been pretty sweet,” Judge said.

He became just the fourth Yankees player with three or more 40-homer seasons, joining Babe Ruth (11), Lou Gehrig (five) and Mickey Mantle (four). The drive was the third-longest of Judge’s career and the second-longest in the major leagues this season behind Jorge Soler’s 478-footer for San Francisco at Colorado on July 21. Judge has six homers against Gausman.

“He’s ridiculous,” Schneider said. "His numbers, you look up, it’s a joke."

Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres was removed by manager Aaron Boone after three innings for not hustling.

Torres did not run hard out of the batter’s box on his second-inning drive off the left-field wall, thinking it was a home run, and reached only first. That cost the Yankees a run when he was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Anthony Volpe’s two-out double into the left-field corner in the second.

“I just felt like I need to in that spot,” Boone said.

Torres agreed with Boone's decision

“I feel really sorry," Torres said.

Stroman (7-6) gave up a season-high seven runs and eight hits in a season-low 2 2/3 innings. He was 5-2 with a 2.60 ERA in 12 starts through May and is 2-4 with a 6.32 ERA in 10 starts since.

“Loss is definitely solely on me. Just didn't execute. Just out of rhythm mechanically. Had no feel for my pitches," Stroman said. “Just to put us in that position is very disappointing and unacceptable.”

Gausman allowed five runs — four earned — and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings.

“His command wasn’t great tonight, but he made big pitches,” Schneider said.

In a game that started after an 86-minute rain delay, Vladimir Guerrero hit an RBI single and Clement a two-run double in the first. Spencer Horwitz and Clement had run-scoring singles in the four-run third for a 5-2 lead and Brian Serven, a backup catcher who had been 1 for 21 this season, greeted Michael Tonkin with a two-run single for a 7-2 advantage.

Anthony Volpe hit a two-run homer in the fifth and New York closed to 7-5 when center fielder Daulton Varsho bobbled Austin Wells’ single for an error that allowed Juan Soto to score. Génesis Cabrera stranded a pair of runners when he struck out Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Horwitz singled in a run against Tim Hill in the sixth, and Brendon Little (1-1) stranded two more runners when Soto hit an inning-ending groundout in the bottom half.

Chad Green got three outs for his eighth save in eight chances.

Torres was thrown out on Volpe’s double when left fielder Joey Loperfido threw to shortstop Leo Jiménez, whose relay to Serven sailed to the third-base side of the plate but left the catcher time to make a swipe tag.

George Springer bruised his left shin on a foul ball in the sixth inning and was replaced in right field in the bottom of the seventh. He was going to have a scan.

"I think it’ll be all right,” Schneider said.

Reliever Enyel De Los Santos, acquired from San Diego on Tuesday, worked around a double and hit batter in the seventh inning of his Yankees debut.

SOCCER STARS

Retired soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimović threw the ceremonial first pitch from the rubber, then exchanged a hug with Yankees captain Aaron Judge. ... Judge had a Manchester City jersey draped on his clubhouse chair signed: “Aaron, Best wishes, Erling Haaland.” Manchester City played a preseason friendly at Yankee Stadium last weekend, when the Yankees were in Boston.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: C Alejandro Kirk was out of the starting lineup for the second game in a row since getting hit on the left elbow by a 98 mph pitch from Baltimore’s Corbin Burnes. ... LHP Ricky Tiedemann had Tommy John surgery Tuesday.

Yankees: RHP Gerrit Cole (body fatigue) threw a bullpen session Friday and intends to rejoin the rotation for Sunday’s series finale after missing one turn.

UP NEXT

Yankees LHP Carlos Rodón (11-7, 4.34) starts Saturday against Toronto RHP José Berríos (9-8, 3.93). Rodón has won consecutive starts after going 0-5 in his previous six. Berríos beat the Yankees on June 27, allowing two runs and two hits over seven innings — including Trent Grisham’s two-run homer. Toronto took a 5-0, first-inning lead off Rodón, who gave up a pair of three-run homers to Springer.

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Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr., left, and Steward Berroa, right, react after winning a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Toronto Blue Jays' Leo Jiménez, left, and Steward Berroa, right, celebrate after winning a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Retired professional soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimović throws the first pitch before a baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Yankees' Gleyber Torres, right, is tagged out at home plate by Toronto Blue Jays catcher Brian Serven, left, during the second inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. stands on the field before a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. reacts after flying out during the second inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge celebrates after hitting a home run which also scored Juan Soto during the first inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge celebrates hitting a home run to score Juan Soto during the first inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Toronto Blue Jays' Kevin Gausman pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Toronto Blue Jays' Brian Serven, right, celebrates with Toronto Blue Jays first base coach Mark Budzinski, left, after hitting a single which led to Spencer Horwitz and Davis Schneider scoring during the third inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Toronto Blue Jays third base coach Carlos Febles, left, celebrates with Spencer Horwitz, center, after Horwitz ran to third on a single hit by Daulton Varsho during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Devices powered by lithium-ion batteries are overheating more often during airline flights and passengers often put them in checked bags that go into the cargo hold, where a fire might not be detected as quickly.

Overheating incidents rose 28% from 2019 to 2023, although such events remain relatively rare, UL Standards & Engagement said in a report released Monday.

E-cigarettes overheated more often than any other device, according to the report.

In 60% of the cases, the overheating — called thermal runaway — happened near the seat of the passenger who brought the device on board.

In July, a smoking laptop in a passenger’s bag led to the evacuation of a plane awaiting takeoff at San Francisco International Airport. Last year, a flight from Dallas to Orlando, Florida, made an emergency landing in Jacksonville, Florida, after a battery caught fire in an overhead bin.

More than one-quarter of passengers surveyed for the study said they put vaping cigarettes and portable chargers in checked bags. That is against federal rules.

The Transportation Security Administration prohibits e-cigarettes and chargers and power banks with lithium-ion batteries in checked bags but allows them in carry-on bags. The rule exists precisely because fires in the cargo hold might be harder to detect and extinguish.

UL Standards & Engagement, part of a safety-science company once known as Underwriters Laboratories, said it based its findings on data from 35 passenger and cargo airlines including nine of the 10 leading U.S. passenger carriers.

The Federal Aviation Administration reports 37 thermal-runaway incidents on planes this year, through Aug. 15. There were 77 reports last year, a 71% increase over 2019, according to the FAA numbers.

Considering that airlines operate about 180,000 U.S. flights each week, incidents in the air are relatively uncommon, and lithium batteries can overheat anywhere.

“We also know that one of these thermal-runaway incidents at 40,000 feet does present unique risks,” said UL’s David Wroth.

Those risks have been known for many years.

After cargo planes carrying loads of lithium-ion batteries crashed in 2010 and 2011, the United Nations' aviation organization considered restricting such shipments but rejected tougher standards. Opponents, including airlines, argued that the decision on whether to accept battery shipments should be left up to the carriers, and some no longer take bulk battery shipments.

The most common lithium-ion-powered devices on planes are phones, laptops, wireless headphones and tablets. About 35% of reported overheating incidents involved e-cigarettes, and 16% involved power banks.

Travelers use kiosks to check in for flights in the Delta Airlines ticketing area at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

FILE - In this June 19, 2014 file photo, baggage carts are towed to the Boeing 737 jet at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Ark., June 19, 2014. Devices powered by lithium-ion batteries are overheating more often during airline flights and passengers often put them in checked bags that go into the cargo hold, where a fire might not be detected as quickly. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston, File)