Aaron Judge hit his 50th home run of the season, although Shoehi Ohtani also homered in the all-star duel, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the struggling Yankees 4-3 on Monday night.
The two leading AL MVP candidates connected to a packed stadium that included many Yankees fans. Ohtani broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth with his 29th homer, a two-run shot.
Judge connected in the eighth off reliever Ryan Tepera to make it 4-3.
With his parents in the stands, the California-born slugger became one of 10 players in major league history with more than one 50-homer season. Judge had 52 in 2017.
The top-seeded Yankees tried to rally in the ninth but reigning AL MVP Mike Trout made sure to catch a ball up the middle on Oswaldo Cabrera’s drive off a runner on first, and put the last out.
New York, which leads the American League East by seven games over Tampa Bay, has posted three road losses. The Angels, who have struggled a lot this season, have won four in a row.
Angels starter José Suárez (5-6) limited the Yankees to two runs on three hits in six innings, earning the victory. Jimmy Herget earned his fourth save with two outs.
The loss went to Frankie Montas (4-11), who allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings.
For the Yankees, the Venezuelans Gleyber Torres 4-0; Oswaldo Cabrera 4-1.
For the Angels, Venezuelan Luis Rengifo 4-1 with a run scored and an RBI.