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LOS ANGELES — Aaron Judge was out of the New York Yankees‘ starting lineup Sunday, one day after penetrating the right-field gate at Dodger Stadium to turn in a phenomenal over-the-shoulder catch late in Saturday’s victory. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Judge’s right foot, mostly in the area of his big toe, was too sore to play.

Judge “seemed a little bit better this afternoon,” Boone added, but keeping him out of the lineup for the series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers allows them to take advantage of Monday’s off day and give Judge back-to-back days off his feet. Asked if he thinks Judge might have to go on the injured list, Boone said, “Not at this point, but we’ll see how he is today, tomorrow and the next day.”

Nestor Cortes, however, is expected go on the IL.

Cortes, the Yankees’ left-handed starting pitcher, has been battling soreness in his left shoulder that has been slow to recover between starts in recent weeks. Cortes will undergo further testing when the team returns to New York, but Boone doesn’t believe he’ll miss more than one or two turns through the rotation.

“Don’t think it’s anything too major,” Boone said, “but the last couple times, recovering in between, it’s just kinda that achiness.”

Cortes, 28, was an All-Star last year but has struggled to a 5.16 ERA through his first 11 starts this season, most notably giving up a combined 13 runs in nine against the Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers. Cortes will join Frankie Montas and Carlos Rodon among Yankees starters on the IL. The Yankees will start Clarke Schmidt in Cortes’ place against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday and are undecided about Wednesday.

Judge, 31, is off to another MVP-caliber start this season, slashing .291/.404/.674 with an American League-leading 19 home runs and 40 RBIs.

His catch on Saturday showed why he can also be a dynamic right fielder.

The Yankees held a two-run lead with one on and none out in the bottom of the eighth when J.D. Martinez, one of the hottest hitters in the sport, uncorked a deep drive to the opposite field. Judge ranged back, stretched out his left arm, secured the catch and ran so hard into the bullpen gate that he lodged the door open, stumbling initially before picking himself up and tossing the baseball back into the infield.

Judge’s feet banged up against a concrete lining that sits under the padded portion of the fence while making the catch. Boone and a couple of the Yankees’ trainers went out to check on him, but Judge waved them off and remained in the game.

“The training staff should’ve come out for the gate — not for Judge,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts quipped.

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Red Sox call up Fulmer in Tommy John return

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Red Sox call up Fulmer in Tommy John return

CHICAGO — Former American League Rookie of the Year Michael Fulmer, returning from Tommy John surgery, was brought up from the minor leagues Sunday when the Boston Red Sox placed right-hander Richard Fitts on the 15-day injured list with a right pectoral strain.

A 32-year-old right-hander, Fulmer has not pitched in the big leagues since 2023 with the Chicago Cubs. He had Tommy John revision surgery on Oct. 18, 2023, signed a minor league contract with Boston the following Feb. 2 and did not pitch last year.

Fulmer had a 0.79 ERA in five spring training appearances for the Red Sox, striking out 12 and walking three in 11⅓ innings. He had a 3.09 ERA in two starts and one relief appearance for Triple-A Worcester, striking out 18 and walking six in 11⅔ innings. His four-seam fastball averaged 92.4 mph.

He won the 2016 AL Rookie of the Year with the Detroit Tigers, had Tommy John surgery on March 27, 2019, and returned to the major leagues on July 27, 2020, just after the start of the pandemic-shortened season.

Fulmer is 37-50 with a 3.94 ERA in 90 starts and 172 relief appearances for the Tigers (2016-22), Twins (2022) and Cubs (2023).

Fulmer’s contract was selected from Worcester. Red Sox manager Alex Cora said he expects to use Fulmer out of the bullpen.

Fitts will undergo an MRI on Monday to determine the extent of his injury, Cora said. The 25-year-old left Saturday’s game against the White Sox with shoulder discomfort as he was facing Miguel Vargas, Chicago’s first hitter in the sixth inning.

Making his seventh big league start, Fitts had a 2-0 lead and allowed two hits. He was in position for his first major league win when he was replaced by Zack Kelly with a 2-2 count on Vargas. Vargas walked, and two batters later Luis Robert Jr. hit a two-run homer,

Chicago went on to win 3-2 on pinch-hitter Brooks Baldwin‘s RBI single in the ninth.

Fitts has a 2.39 ERA in seven starts for the Red Sox over two seasons. He is 0-2 with a 3.18 ERA this year.

Fulmer has a contract paying a $1.5 million salary while in the major leagues and $180,000 while in the minors.

He can earn $2 million in performance bonuses for innings and $500,000 for relief appearances. Fulmer would get $50,000 each for 75, 80, 85, 90 and 95 innings, $100,000 apiece for 100, 110, 120, 130 and 140, and $250,000 each for 150, 160, 170, 180 and 190. He would earn $100,000 each for 40, 45, 50, 55 and 60 relief appearances.

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NFL draft hopeful, ex-LSU WR Lacy found dead

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NFL draft hopeful, ex-LSU WR Lacy found dead

Former LSU receiver Kyren Lacy was found dead Saturday night in Houston, an LSU official confirmed to ESPN on Sunday.

Lacy was accused of causing a crash that killed a 78-year-old man on Dec. 17 and then fleeing the scene without rendering aid or calling authorities. On Jan. 12, he turned himself in to authorities, was jailed and then released on $151,000 bail, according to police records.

Lafourche (Louisiana) Parish Sheriff’s Office records indicated that Lacy was charged with negligent homicide, felony hit-and-run with death and reckless operation of a vehicle. According to WAFB-TV, a grand jury was to begin hearing evidence in the case Monday.

According to a news release from Louisiana State Police, Lacy was allegedly driving a 2023 Dodge Charger on Louisiana Highway 20 and “recklessly passed multiple vehicles at a high rate of speed by crossing the centerline and entering the northbound lane while in a designated no-passing zone.”

“As Lacy was illegally passing the other vehicles, the driver of a northbound pickup truck abruptly braked and swerved to the right to avoid a head-on collision with the approaching Dodge,” a Louisiana State Police news release said.

“Traveling behind the pickup was a 2017 Kia Cadenza whose driver swerved left to avoid the oncoming Dodge Charger. As the Kia Cadenza took evasive action to avoid impact with the Dodge, it crossed the centerline and collided head-on with a southbound 2017 Kia Sorento.”

Police alleged that Lacy, 24, drove around the crash scene and fled “without stopping to render aid, call emergency services, or report his involvement in the crash.”

Herman Hall, of Thibodaux, Louisiana, who was a passenger in the Kia Sorento, later died from injuries suffered in the crash, according to state police.

Lacy’s agent, Rocky Arceneaux, said in a statement that his client is “fully cooperating with the authorities.”

Lacy declared for the NFL draft on Dec. 19, two days after the crash, and did not play in LSU’s win over Baylor in the Texas Bowl. He participated in March at LSU’s pro day and was ranked as high as the No. 6 receiver prospect in the draft by ESPN’s Mel Kiper in December. Lacy was not ranked among the top 10 available wide receivers in Kiper’s most recent Big Board, which was published last month.

Lacy played three seasons at LSU after starting his career at Louisiana. Lacy had his best season last year when he caught 58 passes for 866 yards and a team-leading nine touchdowns.

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Cubs feast in Dodgers’ worst home shutout loss

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Cubs feast in Dodgers' worst home shutout loss

LOS ANGELES — The Chicago Cubs had a big night against the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

One night after being shut out, the Cubs broke out for 14 runs and 15 hits in the final three innings of a 16-0 victory Saturday night to hand the Dodgers their first home loss of the season and their worst home shutout defeat in franchise history.

The Cubs finished with 21 hits, including nine for extra bases.

“The boys came out swinging, and it was pretty cool to see,” said Chicago’s Carson Kelly, who homered twice among his three hits and drove in three runs. “Kudos to our guys for working at-bats, really working counts, getting good pitches to drive and not missing them. We also ran the bases well and took our walks. … I think it’s just the mentality of this team that we’re going to fight to the end no matter what the score is.”

Michael Busch, once a top prospect in the Dodgers’ farm system, had four hits, including a homer and two doubles, and drove in three runs. The first baseman is batting .308 (12-for-39) with three homers, six doubles and 11 RBIs in 10 career games against the Dodgers.

Ian Happ had three hits and scored two runs, and Miguel Amaya replaced the injured Seiya Suzuki (right wrist pain) in the fifth inning and homered among his two hits and drove in three runs.

Kelly keyed a five-run seventh inning with a homer 384 feet over the left-field wall against Dodgers reliever Ben Casparius and then crushed a 391-foot homer on a floater from infielder-turned-pitcher Miguel Rojas for a two-run shot in the ninth.

“You have to take a quick swing, not a big swing,” Kelly said, when asked how hard it is to homer off a 40-mph pitch. “You have to find the right timing of it.”

The Cubs pushed their major league-leading run total to 112, which is 21 more than the second-place New York Yankees (91), and they have outscored opponents by 41 runs, a margin nearly twice as much as any team.

Busch, who homered off Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki for a 1-0 lead in the second, came within inches of a monster game when he was robbed of a grand slam by center fielder Andy Pages to end the third.

“I saw him [make the catch] — unfortunately,” said Busch, a former minor league teammate of Pages. “He’s a good player. I didn’t want him to do that, so we’re going to have to have a conversation.”

Sasaki (0-1) left with a 1-0 deficit after allowing one run and four hits in five innings, striking out three and walking two. However, the Cubs broke through against a Dodgers bullpen that entered the contest with a 2.15 ERA, the fourth-best mark in baseball.

Busch doubled and scored on Justin Turner‘s RBI single off Casparius for a 2-0 lead in the sixth, and Amaya (single), Busch (single), Dansby Swanson (single) and Nico Hoerner (sacrifice fly) drove in runs after Kelly’s leadoff homer in the seventh.

Kyle Tucker had a two-run single and Amaya a two-run homer in the eighth, and the Cubs teed off on Rojas in the ninth.

The offensive outburst backed a superb start by Cubs right-hander Ben Brown, who used only two pitches — a four-seam fastball that averaged 95.6 mph and a knuckle-curve that averaged 86.9 mph — to blank the Dodgers on five hits in six innings, striking out five and walking none.

Brown (2-1) gave up five runs and seven hits in four innings of his previous start, a no-decision against San Diego.

“Just trying to do the exact opposite of last week,” Brown said. “This past week was a grind working on things, mentally going through things, but I put in that effort, and it obviously showed tonight.

“I was able to slow the game down, slow the heart rate down, execute pitch by pitch and go back to where I was last year … when my stuff is there, we can get through lineups like that.”

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