MVP? Yankees’ Aaron Judge crushes grand slam in 11-5 win over Royals | Rapid reaction

NEW YORK — Is it possible to win an MVP award before the end of August?

Yankees star Aaron Judge crushed two home runs, including a grand slam, and drove in six runs in an 11-5 win over the Royals at Yankee Stadium on Friday night.

His 41 blasts on the season are by far the most in the major leagues and he’s on track to best the 61 home runs Roger Maris hit in 1961, the second-most all-time behind Barry Bonds’ 73 in 2011.

The Yankees have won two of their last three games and six of their last 10. The Yankees entered the day with an 11 1/2-game lead in the American League East.

An eight-run eighth inning turned a 5-3 deficit into a huge lead, and it saved starting pitcher Gerrit Cole. Cole gave up five runs over six innings — all of them in a meltdown fifth for the Yankees. Cole struck out nine and walked none, but seemed to be affected by the rain in the fifth.

There was a 23-minute rain delay in the top of the eighth.

The Yankees went off in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Aaron Judge struck out to start the inning against Scott Barlow, against whom Judge rocked a walk-off home run in the ninth Thursday night. But Anthony Rizzo singled on a soft grounder to third, and Gleyber Torres ripped a single up the gut to bring up Josh Donaldson. Donaldson hit a chopper to shortstop, which Maikel Garcia booted.

That loaded the bags for Benintendi, who hit a hard grounder in the hole to the right. First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino laid out to stop it, but he didn’t have a play anywhere, and Rizzo scored to slice Kansas City’s lead to 5-4. It was Benintendi’s first hit with the Yankees since the Royals traded him to New York late Wednesday night.

After a mound visit, Barlow threw a pitch down and in to Aaron Hicks. It bounced, Hicks thought it hit him, and a video replay showed that it actually didn’t. No matter. Barlow walked HIcks in a full count to tie the game.

That brought up Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who ripped a 1-2 pitch through the left side, bringing home Benintendi to make it 6-5.

Jose Trevino’s RBI groundout to third base was weak enough to where Benintendi scored without a throw home for a 7-5 Yankees advantage. And after the Royals subbed Jackson Kowar for Barlow, LeMahieu walked, and Judge crushed his grand slam.

Cole escaped a fourth-inning leadoff double, but things fell apart with two outs in the fifth to put the Yankees down, 5-3.

Maikel Garcia singled up the middle, and then Nicky Lopez hit a grounder at shortstop that Isiah Kiner-Falefa tried to backhand but missed and it trickled into center. In the next at-bat, a replay challenge showed that MJ Melendez was able to beat out a grounder to first base that Anthony Rizzo wasn’t able to get to Cole covering the bag in time.

Whit Merrifield immediately followed with an RBI single to right, and then Salvador Perez blasted a two-run shot to center field with an 0-1 count on a fastball high but over the plate.

Rizzo gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead with a bomb to right-center field in the first inning. In the third, Judge followed DJ LeMahieu’s four-pitch walk with his 40th blast of the season, a 449-foot homer to center field.

Aroldis Chapman and Albert Abreu each pitched scoreless relief innings. Wandy Peralta threw a clean ninth.

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Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com.

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