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SAN FRANCISCO — Aaron Judge homered for the third time in two games in San Francisco and the New York Yankees beat the Giants 7-3 on Saturday night.

Judge followed up his two-homer performance Friday night in his first game at the stadium where he rooted for the Giants as a child with one of the more prodigious shots hit in this ballpark’s 25 seasons.

“I have a lot of family in town, a lot of friends in town,” Judge said. “I have to do something special for them. Just trying to stay locked in and put on a show.”

He capped a nine-pitch at-bat in the first inning against Logan Webb (4-5) by launching a changeup 464 feet into the left-field bleachers for his major league-leading 21st home run of the year and a 2-0 lead.

Judge has six homers and 12 RBIs on the first eight games of this California road trip.

“I thought he was at another level in San Diego, Anaheim and just taking his act up the coast now,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “There’s no doubt that I think he’s excited to be here and play here for the first time. … I think it’s cool for him to be here and playing in this building and to put on the performance that he’s put on the last two nights is in line with what he’s been here for a pretty good stretch.”

The change in the calendar did little to slow down Judge, who had 14 homers, 12 doubles and 27 RBIs in May for the most extra-base hits in a month by a Yankees player since Joe DiMaggio had 31 in July 1937.

Judge has reached base safely in 28 straight games and is as locked in as he was two years ago during stretches of his record 62-homer season.

“There were runs in the ’22 season that were pretty wild but this is on par with that for sure,” teammate Giancarlo Stanton said.

Webb intentionally walked Judge with a runner on third and one out in a two-run third inning before striking him out with a runner on third to end the fifth. Judge singled in his last at-bat.

Judge got plenty of help, with Stanton hitting a two-run homer in the eighth off Ryan Walker, and Alex Verdugo also driving in two runs.

That was more than enough to lead the Yankees to their 15th win in 19 games in support of Cody Poteet (2-0), who was called up from Triple-A to make the start.

Poteet allowed a two-run homer to Casey Schmitt in the third inning and an unearned run in the fifth to earn the win in his second start of the season.

Webb had allowed only four earned runs in five starts at home this season before giving up that many in seven innings against Judge and the Yankees.

“He’s an MVP for a reason,” Webb said. “You can’t throw pitches in the heart of the plate. It’s the name of the game. He’s not the only one like that, but especially right now with him being as hot as he is.”

The Giants have lost three straight games for the first time since getting swept in a four-game series at Philadelphia from May 3-6.

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Canes reach 3-year, $9.5M extension with Hall

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Canes reach 3-year, .5M extension with Hall

The Carolina Hurricanes have reached a three-year, $9.5 million extension with forward Taylor Hall through the 2027-28 season.

The team announced the signing Wednesday, a day after the Hurricanes closed out the New Jersey Devils in their first-round playoff series. It marked the seventh straight year that Carolina has won at least one postseason series.

Hall, 33, acquired in a blockbuster January deal that included Mikko Rantanen‘s arrival, scored the first of Carolina’s four second-period goals that helped it erase a 3-0 deficit before winning in double overtime. He’s a 15-year veteran who won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP in the 2017-18 season.

“Taylor has proven to be an outstanding fit for our team, and we are thrilled that he is excited to make Raleigh his home for another three seasons,” general manager Eric Tulsky said in a statement. “He’s been a solid veteran presence in the locker room and a difference maker on the ice.”

Hall had 18 goals and 24 assists in 77 regular-season games between Chicago and Carolina, and also had two assists in the five-game series win against New Jersey. He had missed most of the previous season due to knee surgery and was making $6 million this year with free agency looming, then led Carolina skaters with four power-play goals in the regular season after his arrival.

The Hurricanes acquired the 2010 No. 1 overall draft pick on Jan. 24 in the three-team deal that snagged Rantanen from Colorado, though they later sent Rantanen to Dallas with forward Logan Stankoven as the primary trade-deadline return when it became clear Rantanen was unlikely to sign long-term to stay with Carolina.

Hall and Tulsky are scheduled to address reporters by Zoom later Wednesday.

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Avs’ MacKinnon finalist for Ted Lindsay Award

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Avs' MacKinnon finalist for Ted Lindsay Award

Colorado Avalanche standout Nathan MacKinnon is in contention to repeat as the recipient of the Ted Lindsay Award.

MacKinnon was named a finalist for the award on Wednesday along with Avalanche teammate Cale Makar and Tampa Bay Lightning star forward Nikita Kucherov.

The award is presented annually to the most outstanding player in the NHL as voted by fellow members of the NHL Players’ Association.

MacKinnon, 29, tied Kucherov for the NHL assists lead with 84 and totaled 116 points this season. MacKinnon is the reigning Hart Trophy recipient as the league’s MVP.

Makar, 26, is a first-time finalist for this award and is also up for the Norris Trophy, which was announced Tuesday. He led all defensemen this season in goals (30), assists (62) and points (92).

Kucherov, 31, won his second straight Art Ross Trophy after leading the NHL in scoring with 121 points (37 goals, 84 assists).

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Mammoth gaffe? Utah mum on name after leak

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Mammoth gaffe? Utah mum on name after leak

Utah Hockey Club officials wouldn’t confirm whether “Mammoth” was their new name after it allegedly leaked on the team’s official YouTube channel Tuesday night.

Fans and media noticed that the channel’s handle was changed from “@UtahHockeyClub” to “@UtahMammoth,” on both its landing page and URL. The channel was soon deactivated and remained so on Wednesday morning, but not before screenshots of the name change went viral.

Utah Mammoth was one of three finalists featured in a fan vote at Delta Center to help determine the permanent name of the team, which played its inaugural season in 2024-25 after SEG purchased and relocated the former Arizona Coyotes franchise. Fans voted with iPads located at stations around the arena that featured the names, logos and potential branding for each option.

Originally, the three names voted on were Utah Mammoth, Utah Hockey Club and Utah Wasatch, which was quickly swapped out for Utah Outlaws after the team saw early vote returns.

Mammoth made the final four in the initial fan vote last year.

Utah HC executives wouldn’t confirm or deny that Mammoth will be the team’s new nickname.

Mike Maughan, an executive with Utah HC owner Smith Entertainment Group, said on Wednesday that “progress continues on exploring all three of the name options that were chosen as finalists by our fans. We’re fully on track to announce a permanent name and identity ahead of the 25-26 NHL season and look forward to sharing that with our fans when we do.”

When pressed for an explanation on the alleged YouTube leak, Maughan would only say, “We’re fully on track to announce a permanent name and identity ahead of the 25-26 NHL season.”

One NHL source told ESPN that the revelation for the team’s new name and logo could come before the NHL draft in late June. This year’s draft is a “decentralized” event, meaning that teams will be making selections from their own sites rather than in one central location. That opens the door for Utah to have an event in Salt Lake City with team officials around the draft.

In other Utah HC news, the team announced Wednesday that Delta Center, home to Utah HC and the Utah Jazz, will be undergoing a renovation to optimize hockey sightlines while maintaining the proximity of basketball fans to the court using a state-of-the-art retractable seating system. It’s a multiyear project that will also create a new main entrance and outdoor plaza.

The first-of-its-kind seating system accommodates a nearly 12-foot variance in elevation between rink and court endlines to offer optimal sightlines for both the NBA and NHL. Every seat in the lower bowl will have a complete view of the ice at the start of next season — the team estimates that 400 seats currently can only see one goal net during games.

The new hockey configuration adds capacity behind the goals and above and around the event tunnels on the north and south side of the lower bowl and improves access to seating behind the boards.

When all renovations are complete, seating capacity for hockey will increase from 11,131 to approximately 17,000 — with every seat in the upper and lower bowls having full views of both goals — and capacity for basketball will increase from 18,206 to nearly 19,000 seats.

“Delta Center was built for basketball. When you come and put the size of an ice sheet in that venue with those sight lines, the geometry just doesn’t work. So that’s where you come up with the riser system configuration. You come up with raising the floor 2 feet,” said Jim Olson, president of the Jazz and executive representing SEG on all facilities projects.

“We are absolutely protecting the basketball experience, but then also creating a great hockey experience where all the seats can see all the ice,” he said.

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