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A16 sports
Thursday 21 July 2022
Judge, Yanks on top as baseball returns from All-Star break

By JAY COHEN "We still got a long way to "I thought the Mariners
AP Baseball Writer go," Dodgers manager had a good team from
CHICAGO (AP) — Aaron Dave Roberts said. "A lot of the very beginning, and I
Judge and the New York baseball to play." told everybody that then
Yankees, Mookie Betts and Roberts' club is one of three at the time, they finished
the Los Angeles Dodgers, teams with at least a nine- extremely strong last year,
Jose Altuve and the Hous- game lead in their respec- and you know, you have
ton Astros — they're all just tive divisions heading into to beat them," Houston
looking for more of the the second half. Led by manager Dusty Baker said.
same. The Atlanta Braves' Betts and Freddie Freeman, "They are not going to beat
title defense is rolling along, Los Angeles is 10 games up themselves."
and Julio Rodríguez and on Manny Machado and The AL East has been the
the Seattle Mariners are the San Diego Padres in the best division in baseball
looking to crash the playoff NL West. — every team is .500 or
party. "Just a lot of good things better, even the 46-46 Bal-
As baseball returns from the New York Yankees Aaron Judge, left, runs in the outfield during happened in the first half timore Orioles — but that
All-Star break — all packed batting practice a day before the 2022 MLB All-Star baseball for us," Freeman said. hasn't affected New York
up and ready to go af- game, Monday, July 18, 2022, in Los Angeles. Altuve and Houston still very much at all. The Yan-
ter the AL's 3-2 victory at Associated Press have a nine-game lead in kees begin the second half
Dodger Stadium on Tues- change in a hurry, too. Just Cubs catcher Willson Con- the AL West, even with the with a gaudy 64-28 record
day night — the postsea- ask Rodríguez and the Mar- treras and, yes, Washing- win streak for Seattle. The and a whopping 13-game
son picture is quite crowd- iners, winners of 14 in a row. ton Nationals slugger Juan Astros and Mariners close lead over Tampa Bay.
ed, thanks to the addition Or the contenders looking Soto, all believed to be on out their season series with While Giancarlo Stanton
of a third wild card in each at the Aug. 2 trade dead- the market to varying de- seven more games this has delivered his usual
league. line, with Cincinnati Reds grees. month, beginning Friday power and Clay Holmes
The October equation can ace Luis Castillo, Chicago Welcome back, indeed. night in Seattle. has been one of the game's
most dominant relievers, it's
Judge leading the way for
the Bronx Bombers. He is
batting .284 with 33 homers
and 70 RBIs, joining Shohei
Ohtani among the front-
runners for AL MVP. "I think
he continues to get bet-
ter and better as a leader,
which has always been, I
think, a positive trait of his,"
New York manager Aaron
Boone said. "But I would just
say he's a more complete,
refined, veteran player
that is also in the prime of
his career."
Judge and the Yankees
are trying to chase down
the franchise's first champi-
onship since 2009 and No.
28 overall. But there are
all sorts of potential road-
blocks — both nearby and
further away.
The crosstown Mets are on
top of the NL East, looking
to hold off the Braves and
take the franchise's first di-
vision title since 2015. Each
of baseball's Central divi-
sions had a mediocre first
half, but Milwaukee and
St. Louis have an array of
stars, and Carlos Correa
could power Minnesota
back into the playoffs af-
ter it finished last in the AL
Central in 2021.
Even the Chicago White
Sox, who underperformed
early on, showed some
positive signs while taking
three of four at the division-
leading Twins in the runup
to the break.q