ARLINGTON, Texas _ An offense that took nearly eight innings to wake up Saturday was ready from the word go Sunday.
Taking advantage of some truly hideous pitching, the Yankees got four hits and four RBIs by Didi Gregorius and two homers apiece from Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge in pounding the Rangers, 16-7, at Globe Life Park.
The Yankees (77-65) are 4-2 on a nine-game trip that continues Monday night against the Rays at Citi Field because of Hurricane Irma, crept within 3 { games of the AL East-leading Red Sox.
The Yankees tied their season high in runs and hits (18), including the homers by Judge (Nos. 40 and 41) and Sanchez (Nos. 29 and 30), five doubles and a triple. Six of those hits came in a six-run fourth as the Yankees drove right-hander A.J. Griffin from the game and pushed a 3-1 lead to 9-1.
Brett Gardner's two-run triple and Judge's solo homer highlighted the inning. Judge became only the second rookie, joining Mark McGwire, to hit 40 homers in a season and became the 11th Yankee to reach the plateau. His three RBIs gave him 90.
Gregorius went 4-for-4, including a double. His two-out, two-run single in the fifth made it 11-3. Austin Romine added three hits and scored three runs and Sanchez scored four times.
Judge's second homer of the day _ which sailed over the Yankees' bullpen in left-center and was estimated to have traveled 463 feet _ made it 12-4 in the sixth. That one went two feet farther than the second homer by Sanchez, a drive to center field.
In his first at-bat as a Yankee, catcher Erik Kratz, acquired Aug. 31 from the Indians, cracked a two-run double in the ninth to make it 16-6.
Rookie lefthander Jordan Montgomery provided the only negatives on the day, lasting only 3 1/3 innings and allowing three runs, three hits and four walks. After being given the 9-1 lead in the fourth, Montgomery walked the first two batters of the bottom half. Ryan Rua's one-out RBI double made it 9-2, and Joe Girardi brought on Chad Green to stifle any hopes of a rally.
Green brought a 1.55 ERA since June 18 into the game but wasn't quite as dominant as usual, allowing one run and four hits in 2 1/3 innings. He did strike out four, giving him 96 in 63 innings, and was credited with the victory.
The Yankees gave Montgomery a quick lead. After Griffin retired Gardner and Chase Headley, Sanchez hammered a 1-and-1 fastball to left to make it 1-0.
Robinson Chirinos extended his on-base streak to 24 games in the second, hitting a one-out homer to right to tie it at 1. But it was all Yankees after that.
