NEW YORK — The Yankees–Red Sox rivalry, a historic feud running on fumes in recent years, received a light jolt from a rookie this weekend — and Aaron Judge took notice.

Boston right-hander Hunter Dobbins, a lifelong Red Sox fan from Texas and the team’s starting pitcher Sunday, told the Boston Herald on Saturday that he’d rather retire if the Yankees were the last team to give him a contract.

Judge said he was unaware of the comment until ESPN’s Eduardo Pérez relayed it to him before Sunday’s series finale.

“I’ve only heard Ken Griffey say that, so I was a little surprised,” Judge said.

A few hours later, the Yankees captain smashed the first pitch he saw from Dobbins — a 98 mph fastball up and over the plate — for a mammoth two-run homer. The ball traveled 436 feet at 108.6 mph to right-center field. It was the second-longest opposite-field home run of Judge’s career, 2 feet short of the longest, according to MLB researcher Sarah Langs.

After the game, an 11-7 loss for the Yankees, Judge admitted stepping into the batter’s box with Dobbins’ comment in mind.

“Well, once somebody tells you, yeah,” Judge said.

Griffey, a first-ballot Hall of Famer, insisted he would never have played for the Yankees during his career because of the way he and his father were treated by the organization during Ken Griffey Sr.’s time with the Yankees. Ken Griffey Sr. spent four-plus seasons in the Bronx in the 1980s.

During an in-game interview on ESPN, Jazz Chisholm Jr., who before the game vouched for more trash-talking in baseball on social media, said he appreciated Dobbins’ competitiveness but thought the comment was outlandish.

“I love competitiveness,” he said. “But to say that, being a rookie, is kind of crazy to me, to say that you’re going to rule out one out of 30 teams to be a professional athlete.”

Dobbins rebounded from Judge’s blast to hold the Yankees to three runs on four hits through five innings despite not recording a strikeout as Boston took two of three games in the rivals’ first series of the season.

An eighth-round pick in 2021, Dobbins has a 4.20 ERA in 10 appearances (eight starts) with the Red Sox.

Judge added another two-run homer in the ninth inning Sunday against right-hander Robert Stock for the final runs of the game.

It was the reigning American League MVP’s 43rd career multihomer game, tying Lou Gehrig for third in franchise history. Babe Ruth (68) and Mickey Mantle (46) top the list.

“Any time you get mentioned with those legends, it’s quite an honor,” said Judge, who is batting .396 with a 1.264 OPS and now has 23 home runs this season. “But it would’ve been sweeter to talk about it after a win.”

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, who’s currently on trial on charges including sexual abuse of a minor, was charged Sunday with illegal possession of a handgun, prosecutors said.

Franco was arrested Nov. 10 in San Juan de la Maguana after an altercation in a parking lot. No one was injured during the fight, and the handgun, a semiautomatic Glock 19, was found in Franco’s vehicle, according to a statement from the Dominican Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The handgun was registered in the name of Franco’s uncle, prosecutors said in the statement. After the arrest, Antonio Garcia Lorenzo, one of Franco’s lawyers, said that because the gun was licensed, “there’s nothing illegal about it.”

Prosecutors requested that Franco stand trial on the gun charge.

When reached by ESPN on Sunday night, the Rays said they had no comment on the matter.

The 24-year-old Franco’s trial in the sexual abuse case — involving a girl who was 14 years old at the time of his alleged crimes — is ongoing. The charges in that case include sexual abuse of a minor, sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor, and human trafficking.

According to prosecutors, Franco kidnapped the girl for sexual purposes and “sent large sums of money to her mother.”

Franco, who is on supervised release, faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

Franco was playing his third major league season when his career was halted in August 2023 because of the allegations. He agreed to an 11-year, $182 million contract in November 2021. He is currently on Major League Baseball’s restricted list.

ESPN’s Juan Arturo Recio contributed to this report.

BROOKLYN, Mich. – Denny Hamlin is pulling off quite a juggling act.

Hamlin outlasted the competition at Michigan International Speedway for his third NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season and 57th of his career, juggling his roles as a driver, expectant father and co-owner of a racing team that’s suing NASCAR.

“The tackle box is full,” Hamlin said Sunday. “There’s all kinds of stuff going on.”

Hamlin, in the No. 11 Toyota, went low to pass William Byron on the 197th of 200 laps and pulled away from the pack to win by more than a second over Chris Buescher.

“Just worked over the guys one by one, giving them different looks,” he said.

Ty Gibbs finished third, matching a season best, followed by Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson.

The 44-year-old Hamlin was prepared to leave his team to join his fiancée, Jordan Fish, who is due to give birth to their third child, a boy. If she was in labor by Lap 50 or sooner at Michigan, he was prepared to leave the track.

Hamlin said he would skip next week’s race in Mexico City if necessary to witness the birth.

To add something else to Hamlin’s plate, he is also co-owner of 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan, which is involved in a lawsuit against NASCAR.

He drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, which hadn’t won at Michigan in a decade.

“I think it’s the most underrated track that we go to,” said Hamlin, who has won three times on the 2-mile oval.

Hamlin became JGR’s winningest driver, surpassing Kyle Busch‘s 56 victories, and the 10th driver in NASCAR history to win after his 700th start.

“It feels good because I’m going to hate it when I’m not at the level I’m at now,” he said. “I will certainly retire very quicky after that.”

Hamlin’s team set him up with enough fuel to win while many drivers, including Byron, ran out of gas late in the race.

“It really stings,” said Byron, the points leader, who was a season-worst 28th. “We just burned more (fuel) and not able to do much about that.”

Hamlin, meanwhile, wasn’t on empty until his celebratory burnout was cut short.

Pole-sitter Chase Briscoe was out front until Byron passed him on Lap 12. Buescher pulled ahead on Lap 36 and stayed up front to win his first stage this season.

Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott took turns with the lead before a crash involving Alex Bowman brought out the red flag on Lap 67.

Byron took the lead again after a restart on Lap 78 as part of his strong start and surged to the front again to win the second stage.

Carson Hocevar took the lead on Lap 152 and was informed soon thereafter that he didn’t have enough fuel to finish, but that became moot because a flat tire forced him into the pits with 18 laps to go.

Hocevar faded to a 29th-place finish, a week after he was second to match a career best at Nashville, where he created a buzz with an aggressive move that knocked Ricky Stenhouse Jr. out of the race.

Rough times for Bowman

Bowman hit a wall with the front end of his No. 48 Chevrolet as part of a multi-car crash in his latest setback.

“That hurt a lot,” he said after passing a medical evaluation. “That was probably top of the board on hits I’ve taken.”

Bowman, who drives for Hendrick Motorsports, came to Michigan 12th in points and will leave lower in the standings. He has finished 27th or worse in seven of his last nine starts and didn’t finish for a third time during the tough stretch.

Reddick rallies

Defending race champion Tyler Reddick qualified 12th, but started last in the 36-car field because of unapproved adjustments and rallied to finish 13th.

Up next

NASCAR shifts to Mexico City for its first points-paying international race in modern history on June 15.