Yankees shut out Tigers as Aaron Judge hits 44th homer to back Gerrit Cole

DETROIT — The Cole Train would seem to be back on track.

Gerrit Cole, scratched from his July 30 start in Philadelphia with what the Yankees characterized as “general body fatigue,” made it three straight strong starts since, striking out eight in six innings Friday night in a 3-0 victory over the Tigers in front of 36,244 at Comerica Park.

“I thought he had all of his pitches working,” said catcher Jose Trevino, who went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk and his first steal of the season in his return to the lineup after missing 26 games with a left quadriceps strain. “The fastball location, he got after it tonight really good.”

It was an overall quiet night for the Yankees’ offense, but it did include Aaron Judge’s MLB-leading 44th homer, a 431-foot shot to dead center in the eighth that gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead.

Judge, the American League MVP favorite — with the Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. close behind — came into the night hitting .444 with 11 homers and a 1.479 OPS in his previous 27 games. The home run gave him 111 RBIs.

“Remarkable,” Aaron Boone said, using the adjective for the umpteenth time this season to describe Judge’s year.

The AL East-leading Yankees (73-50), who have won 13 of 18, moved one game ahead of the Orioles, who lost to the Red Sox, 12-10.

Cole, who started the season on the injured list with right elbow inflammation and who has been up-and-down since his 2024 debut on June 19, allowed four hits and two walks. The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner has allowed three runs in 17 innings in his last three starts, striking out 22 and walking four.

“It was impressive,” Judge said. “Even from the first inning, his fastball command was there, his velo was ticking up, and I feel like that slider and curveball has been really sharp his last two outings. Impressive to see. When he’s looking like that, I want him to go all nine innings.”

Judge said the last part with a smile. Since Cole was skipped on July 30, the Yankees have handled him carefully, the idea being to get him firing on all cylinders for September’s stretch run.

Cole (4-2, 4.15) threw 91 pitches Aug. 4 against the Blue Jays and 90 pitches six days later against the Rangers. He was bumped up to 95 Friday night.

“Today was good,” he said. “The last few have been really good. I was able to dial it back, push it up and locate at both ends of the spectrum. So it’s a good sign.”

The Yankees produced only five hits against the Tigers (59-64), who went the bullpen-game route. They got a first-inning sacrifice fly from Alex Verdugo and a fifth-inning homer from infield prospect Oswald Peraza, who started at third in his first major-league action of the season after being recalled from the minors on Wednesday.

“I think it was important to simplify things,” Peraza — whose organizational status has dipped the last couple of years because of an inability to hit consistently — said through an interpreter. “Simpler in a way that would give me a better rhythm and something I could replicate all the time. I’ve definitely felt that. It’s something I’ve found the last month in Triple-A.”

Luke Weaver, who had not pitched since imploding to the tune of five runs in Saturday’s loss to the Rangers in the second game of a doubleheader, threw a scoreless seventh. He didn’t have an easy time of it, but it wasn’t his fault.

After Weaver retired the first two Tigers, former Yankees prospect Trey Sweeney reached on an infield single (Gleyber Torres ranged to his right and stopped the ball but threw wildly to first). When Jake Rogers sent a high pop toward third, shortstop Anthony Volpe called off Peraza, then flat-out dropped the ball for his 13th error, second-most on the club behind Torres’ 14. With runners on second and third, Parker Meadows popped to Torres for the third out.

Tommy Kahnle pitched a perfect eighth and Clay Holmes, who leads the majors with nine blown saves and made his first appearance since throwing 45 pitches in earning the save Sunday against Texas, struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth for his 26th save.

“Really good to play a clean, solid game like that,” Aaron Boone said. “We didn’t do a lot offensively, but we hit a couple out of the ballpark and were able to make it stand up.”  

Chisholm optimistic. Jazz Chisholm Jr., placed on the injured list Tuesday after an MRI taken earlier in the day showed a left elbow sprain, said before Friday night’s game that it is “100% realistic” to say he’ll be able to return at the end of the 10 days.

“Right now, my body’s reacting really well to all the treatment that we’re doing, and it feels pretty good,” Chisholm said after briefly playing catch (it’s his non-throwing elbow that was injured).

The lefthanded-hitting Chisholm, who suffered the injury while sliding into home plate during Monday night’s loss to the White Sox, said he hasn’t felt any pain in the elbow since the day of the injury and added that he expects to start swinging a bat within the next few days.

Notes & quotes: Tim Mayza, released by the Blue Jays on July 5 and signed to a minor- league deal by the Yankees shortly thereafter, was added to the active roster before Friday night’s game. “He’s gotten back to a point where he’s throwing the ball like the Tim Mayza we’ve seen most of his career,” Boone said. Mayza, 32, had an 8.03 ERA in 35 games before getting released but had a combined 2.67 ERA in his previous three seasons with Toronto.