OAKLAND, Calif. — In his final game at the Coliseum, Aaron Judge played emperor, with the Yankees takeover of the East nearly complete.
Taking the field for the last time at a stadium that holds special meaning for him, before the A’s bolt for Sacramento and eventually Las Vegas, the Northern California native added another chapter to his special season.
Judge crushed a home run for the second straight day — extending his major league lead to 55 — added a double that keyed a rally and scored another run to send the Yankees to a sweep of the A’s with a 7-4 win in front of 24,663 on Sunday afternoon.
“Ending it with a sweep is my favorite thing,” Judge said after going 2-for-3 with a pair of walks.
Jasson Dominguez and Gleyber Torres also homered as the Yankees (92-64) flew home on the verge of winning the division.
After an off day Monday, they will need just one win over the Orioles during their three-game series that begins Tuesday in The Bronx to clinch the AL East.
The Yankees will enter the series leading the Orioles by a season-high six games with six games to play, their magic number to win the division down to one.
“We’re focused,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Everyone in that room knows what’s at stake and what the mission is and where we’re at in the calendar and the opportunity in front of us. I think guys are ready to do what we got to do to win ballgames and give ourselves a chance come October.”
The Yankees also have a magic number of three (with a 2 ¹/₂-game lead over the Guardians) to secure the best record in the American League, which would give them home-field advantage through the ALCS.
Sunday’s win capped a 5-1 road trip, which included clinching a postseason berth Wednesday in Seattle, as the Yankees went 12-3 across their two West Coast swings this season.
“We play well on the road,” Judge said after the Yankees finished the regular season 50-31 on the road — their most road wins since 2003. “Coming out of here 5-1 is big, especially going into the last homestand. Magic number is down to one. Let’s just go take care of business now.”
Things got interesting late Sunday as Clay Holmes entered in the eighth inning to protect a 6-4 lead and put the first two runners on before recording an out.
Boone then called on Luke Weaver, who struck out a pair to get out of the jam and finished off the five-out save in the ninth — his fourth of the season.
Luis Gil was not his sharpest, giving up four runs on five hits and three walks across 5 ¹/₃ innings.
He left with a pair of runners on in the sixth inning and a 5-2 lead, but both runs came around to score when Ian Hamilton gave up a double to pinch hitter Ryan Noda.
But the Yankees gave Gil enough run support to record his 15th win after entering the rotation late in spring training as an injury replacement for Gerrit Cole.
“I’m extremely happy and satisfied about that,” Gil said through an interpreter. “When you think about it, to win 15 games, I wanted to come into camp and help this team as much as possible. So it’s a great feeling, great experience.”
It was a 2-2 game in the third inning, when Judge, a native of Linden (roughly 80 miles from the Coliseum), belted a solo shot to dead-center field off right-hander Joey Estes for the 3-2 lead.
Judge had taken batting practice with the Yankees here back in 2013, shortly after they drafted him with their first-round pick, and now he was closing out his Coliseum career in style.
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“It’s definitely sad,” said Judge, who has belted four home runs in nine games since going a career-high 16 games without one. “I have a lot of great memories here as a player. Came here a couple times as a kid, so I’ll reminisce on that a little bit. But there’s a lot of history in this building.
“A lot of special players played here, and just getting a chance to be on that same field and do some things, it’s definitely something I won’t forget.”
