NEW YORK — Since Aaron Judge hurt his right big toe in Los Angeles a week ago, the Yankees have followed one recipe to win games.
It isn’t pretty, but it’s worked three times.
Ride a dominant outing from the pitching staff, enough of a lights-out performance that a few scattered runs get the job done on offense.
That was the case on Saturday night against the Red Sox. Domingo Germán and three relievers were brilliant, shutting Boston down. On the other side, the offense continued to struggle stringing hits together, a glaring concern for a lineup that’s missing their best player for the foreseeable future. Still, two solo home runs and a late sprinkle of insurance were enough in a 3-1 win.
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Germán was cruising again for the Yankees, twirling six innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts and only one blemish: a Rafael Devers home run in the sixth. The right-hander has allowed one earned run or fewer in five of his last six starts. Wandy Peralta, Tommy Kahnle and Clay Holmes closed the door in relief, lowering the Yankees’ league-best bullpen ERA to 2.78. Holmes registered his eighth save of the season.
Those are all positive takeaways. It’s hard to lose when the other team only scores one run. The way the Yankees’ outfielders continue to take advantage of more playing time — Billy McKinney, Jake Bauers and Willie Calhoun, that is — is another.
Calhoun had one of the Yankees’ solo homers. He’s now hitting .310 with nine runs, seven extra-base hits and eight RBI in his last 13 games. Second baseman Gleyber Torres — the only Yankee with a multi-hit game on Saturday — also went yard, the first baserunner for those in pinstripes after Tanner Houck mowed the Yankees’ lineup down through the first three innings.
Catcher Kyle Higashioka brought in the third run of the game with a single up the middle, driving Isiah Kiner-Falefa home from second base in the seventh. He’s 9-for-21 (.429) in…
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