BALTIMORE -- Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 37th home run, fellow All-Star Nestor Cortes pitched six sharp innings and the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-0 on Sunday.
Jose Trevino, another Yankees All-Star, had the first four-hit game of his career. New York, with the best record in the big leagues, took two of three and has won 22 of 32 series this year.
"It's always big to win a series," Yankees Manager Aaron Judge said. "You don't take that for granted whether you're in a hot streak like we've been at times this year or you're struggling a little bit. Series wins are not to be taken lightly."
Judge has seven home runs in his last nine games and leads the majors with 81 RBI. He also raised his batting average to .294, which has been a key area of focus.
"I saw a lot of the greats -- Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera -- they always hit above .300 and the power just came with it," Judge said. "That's always been a goal of mine to hit above .300 and we'll keep working towards it."
Cortes (8-3) allowed six hits, struck out seven and walked none while lowering his ERA from 2.63 to 2.48. The 27-year-old lefty began his MLB career with the Orioles in 2018. He has gone 2-0 with a 0.46 in four appearances (three starts) against Baltimore at Oriole Park in his career.
"I go out there every fifth day like I do against any other team but for some reason, I have more success against the Orioles," Cortes said. "It feels good to do that."
Clarke Schmidt pitched three innings and earned his first career save.
New York scored three times in the third on a double by DJ LeMahieu and a two-run drive by Judge off Dean Kremer (3-2). Judge has nine home runs in his last 12 games against Baltimore and 36 over his career -- his most against any opponent.
"I don't think anybody should pitch to him," Orioles catcher Robinson Chirinos said. "The guy is unbelievable. He's hitting good pitches. He's hitting mistakes. Normally when a guy's hot, he's hitting doubles and singles. He's hitting the ball out of the ballpark, and it's crazy. He's a good hitter. What can you say?"
The Yankees lead the majors with 166 home runs, the most they've hit through the first 96 games of a season in franchise history.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa extended his hitting streak to 12 games with an RBI single and Trevino followed with a double that increased the lead to 5-0 in the sixth. Aaron Hicks drove in the sixth run with a single in the ninth.
ASTROS 8, MARINERS 5 Jose Altuve and Jeremy Pena hit back-to-back home runs off Robbie Ray (8-7) to begin the game, and Houston roughed up the reigning AL Cy Young Award to complete a three-game sweep of Seattle.
BLUE JAYS 8, RED SOX 4 Raimel Tapia had three hits and drove in four runs, giving him 10 RBI for the series, and Vladimir Guerrero had four hits as Toronto beat bumbling Boston for a three-game sweep.
RANGERS 11, ATHLETICS 8 Martin Perez (8-2) allowed four hits over seven strong innings to extend his undefeated streak and beat fellow All-Star Paul Blackburn (6-6), leading Texas over Oakland.
ROYALS 4, RAYS 2 Kris Bubic (2-6) went seven strong innings, Hunter Dozier and MJ Melendez had late-inning RBI and Kansas City won a series against Tampa Bay for the first time in five years.
TWINS 9, TIGERS 1 Sonny Gray (5-3) allowed two hits in six innings to lead Minnesota over Detroit.
WHITE SOX 6, GUARDIANS 3 Dylan Cease (10-4) threw six innings in his third consecutive scoreless start, Leury Garcia and AJ Pollock homered, and Chicago beat Cleveland to salvage a four-game split.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
BREWERS 10, ROCKIES 9 Andrew McCutchen's tiebreaking, two-run double capped a two-out rally in the eighth inning that lifted Milwaukee over Colorado.
CUBS 4, PHILLIES 3 Yan Gomes hit two home runs, Drew Smyly (3-5) tossed six sharp innings and Chicago completed a three-game sweep of Philadelphia. Smyly (Little Rock Central, Arkansas Razorbacks) retired his first 14 batters. He allowed one earned run on four hits with four strikeouts and no walks.
DODGERS 7, GIANTS 4 Trayce Thompson drove in two runs and thrilled his older brother, Klay, with an RBI double during the decisive rally in the seventh inning while Los Angeles surged past San Francisco for its season-high eighth consecutive victory.
MARLINS 6, PIRATES 5 (10) Nick Fortes and Miguel Rojas hit RBI singles in the 10th inning and Miami topped Pittsburgh.
METS 8, PADRES 5 Pete Alonzo hit a three-run home run and drove in another run with a double as New York beat San Diego.
NATIONALS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3 Keibert Ruiz had three hits, including a go-ahead single in the eighth inning, and Washington avoided a three-game sweep by beating Arizona.
REDS 6, CARDINALS 3 Joey Votto hit a three-run home run to back Tyler Mahle's sharp return from injury as Cincinnati beat St. Louis. The last-place Reds overcame Paul Goldschmidt's two opposite-field home runs to take two of three in the series. They've won eight of their last 12 games.
INTERLEAGUE
ANGELS 9, BRAVES 1 Taylor Ward homered in a five-run first, Reid Detmers (3-3) pitched five scoreless innings and Los Angeles cooled off Atlanta.