MILWAUKEE — — Aaron Decide hit his 58th and 59th residence runs of the season to maneuver inside two of Roger Maris’ American League report with 16 video games remaining and lead the New York Yankees over the Milwaukee Brewers 12-8 on Sunday.

Decide added a two-run double within the ninth as a part of a four-hit day for New York (88-58), which hit 5 homers and prevented a three-game sweep. The Yankees opened a 5 1/2-game lead over second-place Toronto within the AL East and headed to the Bronx for a homestand in opposition to Pittsburgh and Boston that begins Tuesday.

“They’re going to be like over the sting, slapping at issues, and beer goes to be flying all over the place,” pitcher Gerrit Cole predicted. “It’s in all probability not going to be a child-friendly atmosphere within the bleachers. It’s going to be nuts.”

Decide’s eleventh multihomer recreation tied the season report set by Detroit’s Hank Greenberg 1938 and matched by the Chicago Cubs’ Sammy Sosa in 1998.

Looking for a Triple Crown, Decide leads the main leagues in homers and with 127 RBI. His .3162 batting common is simply behind AL chief Luis Arraez of Minnesota at .317 and Boston’s Xander Bogaerts at .3164.

“Now we have some huge video games developing,” Decide mentioned. “That’s actually the one factor on my thoughts proper now. My focus is to go on the market and win a recreation.”

Milwaukee (78-68) dropped two video games behind San Diego, which performed later Sunday, for the third and final NL wild card.

Decide’s homers totaled 857 toes. His first got here on a sinker from Jason Alexander with a 2-0 depend within the third inning, a 414-foot, opposite-field drive into the appropriate subject second deck.

Decide grew to become the primary participant with 5 batted balls of 110 mph or extra in a recreation since Statcast began monitoring in 2015, the toughest at 115.4 mph.

“You need to come together with your finest stuff in opposition to him,” Alexander mentioned. “I felt like I made some good pitches, and it’s powerful when you possibly can paint one on the skin and he nonetheless places it 110 (mph) into the stands. It’s a extremely skinny margin of error.”

Then within the seventh in opposition to Luis Perdomo, Decide pulled a slider with a 1-2 depend for a 443-foot shot to left.

“That is his second proper now. If you make a mistake in opposition to him, he’s going to benefit from it,” Perdomo mentioned.

Decide additionally walked in opposition to Hoby Milner (3-3) main off a four-run fifth because the Yankees went forward to remain at 7-4.

Decide had not homered in his earlier three video games since going deep twice at Boston’s Fenway Park.

Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber is a distant second within the main leagues with 39 homers. Decide grew to become the primary participant since Mookie Betts in 2018 to prime 10 WAR by FanGraphs. Since 2012, solely Betts, Mike Trout (twice) and Buster Posey had reached that mark

Maris hit 61 homers for the Yankees in 1961, another than Babe Ruth in 1927.

Anthony Rizzo homered in his return from the injured checklist, his thirty first of the season, and had three hits. Aaron Hicks and rookie Oswaldo Cabrera additionally went deep because the Yankees overcame 3-0 and 4-1 deficits.

New York had 16 hits and twice hit back-to-home homers: Decide and Rizzo within the third, then Hicks and Decide within the seventh.

Cole (12-7) gave up Kolten Wong’s three-run homer within the first and Tyrone Taylor’s solo shot within the second, Cole has allowed second-most within the majors and trailing solely Washington’s Josiah Grey at 37.

“I don’t actually have a great reply,” Cole mentioned. “In some instances, it’s sort of outstanding. However I have to be higher.”

Rowdy Tellez hit a two-run homer within the eighth off Clarke Schmidt. Milwaukee scored twice within the ninth and introduced up the potential tying run with one out earlier than Clay Holmes struck out Luis Urías and retired Keston Hiura on a groundout.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: Boone mentioned the staff was ready for medical doctors to evaluate an MRI taken on RHP Frankie Montas’ throwing shoulder. … RHP Scott Effross (strained proper shoulder) gave up a leadoff homer to Bobby Dalbec and a pair of doubles as he pitched the fifth inning for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in opposition to Worcester. … RHP Albert Abreu (elbow irritation) pitched a scoreless inning for Double-A Somerset, placing out two and permitting one hit. … Boone mentioned INF/OF Marwin Gonzalez was feeling higher after being faraway from Saturday’s recreation when struck on the helmet by a throw from Brewers catcher Victor Caratini whereas standing within the batter’s field. …C Jose Trevino was out of the beginning lineup for a second consecutive day after leaving Friday’s recreation with a bruised proper knee.

UP NEXT

Yankees: LHP Nestor Cortes (10-4, 2.70 ERA) will make his twenty sixth begin of the season.

Brewers: RHP Corbin Burnes (10-7, 2.97) will get the beginning as Milwaukee opens a three-game residence collection with the New York Mets. Burnes is 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA in opposition to the Mets.

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