NEW YORK (AP) — Tyler Ferguson graduated from Clovis West High School in Fresno, California, when Aaron Judge hit .308 as a sophomore at Fresno State in 2012.
Toward the end of last season after making his debut with the Athletics following nine seasons in the minor leagues, Ferguson told a local TV station he wanted to strike out Judge when the Yankees made their trip to Oakland.
Ferguson didn't face Judge in appearances against New York last September and last month in West Sacramento, California, but got his chance Sunday. On the ninth pitch of a seventh-inning at-bat, Judge drove a 95.5 mph four-seam fastball 426 feet. The two-run drive into the visitors' bullpen in left-center was Judge's second two-run homer of the game and 30th home run this season, capping the Yankees' 12-5 win.
“Best hitter in the league,” Ferguson said. “So I was looking forward to that at-bat. I was able to get ahead and then wasn’t able to execute a couple of pitches and he was able to get it back to 3-2 and I didn’t get the ball quite as high as I would have liked and he made a good swing on it.”
Judge had his 44th multi-homer game and reached 30 homers for the fifth straight season and sixth time overall. He knows Ferguson but wasn't aware of the strikeout comment.
“I didn’t go to a lot of Fresno State games, but I just remember him being a highly touted prospect and obviously a large human being, very recognizable," Ferguson said, “but it’s impressive how he’s continued to just get better and better as he’s gotten older.”
Judge had entered in a 10-for-56 slide with three homers and four RBIs since June 12, dropping his batting average 40 points to .354. He was playing with a bad back.
“Just a little banged-up pregame, and I think that helped me out,” he said. “Just do a little less. I don’t know. I don’t know. It got me right.”
Judge's 345 homers have come off 261 pitchers. His fourth-inning drive to left was off former teammate Luis Severino.
Ferguson debuted with the A’s on May 7 last year and had made two scoreless appearances against the Yankees before Judge homered. Selected by Texas in the sixth round of the 2015 amateur draft out of Vanderbilt, Ferguson never advanced above Class A with Texas and spent 2019 playing independent baseball in Quebec, Canada.
After being released by the Dodgers in 2020 when the minor league season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ferguson joined the Braves following a brief stint with the American Association's Chicago Dogs.
Ferguson reached Triple-A with Atlanta and spent 2023 with Arizona's Triple-A Reno Aces. The A’s signed him to a minor league contract in November 2023 and called him up last year after 14 games with Triple-A Las Vegas.
“It was about nine, 10 years in the minors between when I got drafted to when I made my debut last year,” Ferguson said. “So it was a long ride, but happy to be here and just trying to get better and trying not to give up (home runs) and make better pitches.”
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Athletics pitcher Tyler Ferguson throws during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Sunday, June 29, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New York Yankees' Aaron Judge hits a two-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Sunday, June 29, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Investigators were questioning a family member of director-actor Rob Reiner and his wife Michele after they were found dead at their home in Los Angeles, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.
Investigators believe they suffered stab wounds, said the official, who could not publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Los Angeles Police had not identified a suspect, Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton, the chief of detectives, said at a briefing on Sunday night.
“We are going to try to speak to every family member that we can to get to the facts of this investigation,” Hamilton said.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said it responded to a medical aid request shortly after 3:30 p.m. and found a 78-year-old man and 68-year-old woman dead inside. Reiner turned 78 in March.
Detectives with the Robbery Homicide Division were investigating an “apparent homicide” at Reiner’s home, said Capt. Mike Bland with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Los Angeles authorities have not confirmed the identities of the people found dead at the residence in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood on the city’s west side that’s home to many celebrities.
Reiner was long one of the most prolific directors in Hollywood, and his work included some of the most memorable movies of the 1980s and ’90s, including “This is Spinal Tap,” “A Few Good Men,” “When Harry Met Sally” and “The Princess Bride.”
His role as Meathead in Norman Lear's 1970s TV classic “All in the Family,” as a liberal foil to O’Connor’s Archie Bunker, catapulted him to fame and won him two Emmy Awards.
Relatives of Lear, the legendary producer who died in 2023, said the deaths left them bereft.
“Norman often referred to Rob as a son, and their close relationship was extraordinary, to us and the world,” said a Lear family statement. “Norman would have wanted to remind us that Rob and Michele spent every breath trying to make this country a better place, and they pursued that through their art, their activism, their philanthropy, and their love for family and friends.”
Messages to Reiner's representatives were not immediately returned Sunday night.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called it a devastating loss for the city.
“Rob Reiner’s contributions reverberate throughout American culture and society, and he has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice,” Bass said in a statement. “An acclaimed actor, director, producer, writer, and engaged political activist, he always used his gifts in service of others.”
The son of comedy legend Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner was married to photographer Michele Singer Reiner since 1989. The two met while he was directing “When Harry Met Sally” and have three children together.
Reiner was previously married to actor-director Penny Marshall from 1971 to 1981. He adopted her daughter, Tracy Reiner. Carl Reiner died in 2020 at age 98 and Marshall died in 2018.
Killings are rare in the Brentwood neighborhood. The scene is about a mile from the home where O.J. Simpson’s wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were killed in 1994.
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Balsamo reported from Washington. Associated Press Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed.
LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton speaks near Rob Reiner's residence Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
FILE - Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner arrive on the red carpet at the State Department for the Kennedy Center Honors gala dinner, Dec. 2, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)
FILE - Rob Reiner arrives at the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network's Respect Awards, in Beverly Hills, Calif., Friday, Oct. 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
A police officer blocks off a street near Rob Reiner's residence Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
FILE - Honoree Rob Reiner, second left, poses with his wife Michele, left, and children Nick, center, Romy, and Jake at the 41st Annual Chaplin Award Gala at Avery Fisher Hall, April 28, 2014, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
