New York Yankees vs Los Angeles Dodgers Match Player Stats On Aug 23, 2019

Didi Gregorius hit two home runs, including a grand slam, while Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Gleyber Torres also went deep Friday as the visiting New York Yankees took the opener of a showdown series by crushing the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-2.

In an interleague battle between the teams with the best records in the majors, Gregorius followed an intentional walk to Sanchez in the fifth inning with his 12th home run of the season and fifth career slam. He hit a solo shot in the ninth inning.

Three of the home runs, including one by Gregorius, came against Dodgers left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu, who entered with a National League-leading 1.64 ERA that increased to 1.95.

Yankees starter James Paxton (10-6) gave up two runs on five hits over 6 2/3 innings, with 11 strikeouts, including three against NL MVP candidate Cody Bellinger. The Yankees won after getting swept in a three-game series at the Oakland Athletics earlier this week.

Ryu (12-4) matched a season high with seven earned runs, the same number he gave up June 28 at Colorado. That outing was the only other time he went less than five innings in a start, not counting his 1 2/3 innings at the St. Louis Cardinals on April 8, when he left early with a groin injury.

The Dodgers, who were coming off a home sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays, lost in their ballpark for just the second time in their last 12 games. They are now 51-17 at Dodger Stadium.

The Yankees, one of two major league teams with more home runs than the Dodgers, first showed off their power in the third inning, when Judge and Sanchez went deep.

Judge's low line drive into the seats in left field was his 14th of the season, while Sanchez hit his 29th and the 100th of his career.

With the bases full against Ryu in the fifth, Gregorius hit the first pitch he saw over the wall in right-center field for a 6-1 lead. When Gio Urshela followed two pitches later with a double, Ryu's day was done.

Torres hit his 32nd home run of the season in the sixth inning off Yimi Garcia, giving him nine in his past 12 games. He has hit safely in 14 of 17 interleague games this season.

Enrique Hernandez had two hits for the Dodgers, while rookie Will Smith struck out four times.

The Yankees have won 10 consecutive games against left-handed starters.

--Field Level Media