The Yankees are very close to clinching at least a wild-card spot in the American League

Aaron Judge drove in four runs in his first two at-bats, while Juan Soto hit his 40th home run of the season and the 200th of his career, helping the New York Yankees secure an 11-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.

With this win, the Yankees are very close to clinching at least a wild-card spot in the American League if they win against Seattle on Wednesday. This victory, part of New York’s six-game road trip, increased their lead in the AL East to four games over Baltimore. This is their biggest lead since they were 4.5 games ahead on June 7.

“We know we’re facing another tough pitcher and hopefully we can go out and get it done and cross off that first goal,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “But it hasn’t been done yet. We just got to kind of keep going.”

Judge started the game strong with a two-run double just three batters in and followed it up with a two-out, two-run single an inning later. He now leads the league with 136 RBIs.

Soto contributed to the strong offense in the third inning, hitting a two-out, two-run homer to right field off Seattle starter Bryan Woo. This is the first time Soto has reached the 40-homer milestone, and he has now hit home runs in all 30 major league parks.

“To get to another goal in my career is just a great feeling. All the work that I’ve been putting in and get the results is really cool,” Soto said.

Soto and Judge are the third pair of Yankee teammates to each hit 40 home runs in a season, following Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig (1927, 1930, 1931) and Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris (1961).

“It’s an honor. It’s tough to really put into words. Those are baseball legends you’re talking about,” Judge said.