MLB: Yankees fall to Blue Jays despite rookie Aaron Judge’s two homers

Jose Bautista gave Blue Jays fans something to cheer for in the final home game of a disappointing season.

Bautista had two hits and a walk in what was likely his last home appearance for Toronto, leaving to a standing ovation during the ninth inning of a 9-5 win over the New York Yankees on Sunday.

“A lot of good emotions,” a teary-eyed Bautista said. “It’s good to be recognized and it’s good to feel the love. I appreciate everything that happened today.”

Bautista, who turns 37 next month, is hitting .203 with 22 homers and 62 RBIs, and Toronto appears unlikely to exercise its half of a $17 million mutual option.

Aaron Judge homered twice for the Yankees, increasing his AL-leading total to 48 — one shy of the major league rookie record set by Mark McGwire in 1987. Judge has 11 home runs in September.

“It’s pretty special what he’s done at this point already,” manager Joe Girardi said. “It would be another nice little honor to have in his cap.”

A day after clinching a postseason berth, New York dropped five games behind AL East-leading Boston with seven games to play. The Yankees’ lead over Minnesota for the top AL wild card was cut to 4½ games.

“It’s getting fairly large with seven games to go,” Girardi said of the gap with Boston. “Obviously we’re going to keep playing, but I think you have to start to think ahead a little bit, too.”

Etc.

Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera was diagnosed Sunday with two herniated disks in his lower back. Manager Brad Ausmus said it is unlikely the 34-year-old first baseman will have surgery and probably will be treated with anti-inflammatory injections. A four-time American League batting champion, Cabrera is hitting .249 with 16 home runs and 60 RBIs. It is not clear whether his season is over. …

Cleveland Indians right-hander Corey Kluber beat the Seattle Mariners but had a string of scoreless innings ended at 262/3 on a two-run homer by Ben Gamel. ... With his 47th and 48th home runs against the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge pulled to within one homer of tying the MLB season record for a rookie, set by Oakland’s Mark McGwire in 1987.