TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit two homers in his spring debut as he prepares for the World Baseball Classic next month.
The three-time Most Valuable Player hit a pair of two-run shots, one in the third inning and another in the fourth against the Detroit Tigers. He finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs.
The 33-year-old has won the MVP in three of the past four seasons, including last year when he hit .331 with 53 homers and 114 RBIs.
“We've got the WBC coming up, which I'm excited about, and an exciting Yankees season,” Judge said after his performance. “We've got a lot of unfinished business from last season, especially the way it ended for us. I'm just trying to put myself in the best position to help this team win a lot of ballgames.”
Judge will be part of what looks like a loaded Team USA lineup in the WBC. The position player group also includes Bryce Harper, Gunnar Henderson, Bobby Witt Jr., Cal Raleigh and Kyle Schwarber.
The WBC's pool play round runs from March 5-11 at four sites in Tokyo, Houston, Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The championship game will be on March 17 in Miami.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge waves to fans during a spring training baseball workout on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
New York Yankees' Aaron Judge takes live batting practice during a spring training baseball workout Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
TRUCKEE, Calif. (AP) — A Black Hawk helicopter on Saturday flew to the snowy, mountainous region of the California’s Sierra Nevada where a fatal avalanche struck this week, amid an ongoing effort to make the area safe enough for crews to recover the bodies of the people killed.
Four people in brown cargo uniforms boarded the helicopter at the airport in Truckee, California, just before 10 a.m. Flight radar data showed the helicopter hovering around Frog Lake in the Castle Peak area, where the bodies of eight people were found on Tuesday, for just under 90 minutes before returning. One person who remained missing also is presumed dead.
Brutal weather and the threat of more avalanches have kept crews from safely recovering the bodies of the eight people killed and another still missing from Tuesday’s avalanche, which was roughly the size of a football field.
A temporary flight restriction over the site of the avalanche, which bars drones and all other unauthorized aircraft from flying in the area, was extended to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Officials said on Friday that they were using water to break up the snow in the area as avalanche mitigation work, a technique that is designed to intentionally release unstable snowpack to reduce the risk when rescue crews go in.
The mitigation and search efforts have included California Highway Patrol air operations, Nevada County Sheriff’s search and rescue, Tahoe Nordic search and rescue, the utility company Pacific Gas & Electric, the Sierra avalanche center and others.
The Nevada County Sheriff's department said in an email on Saturday that the “victim recovery effort remains ongoing," ahead of a 1 p.m. news conference.
A California Highway Patrol search and rescue crew flies over a forest as recovery efforts for a group of missing skiers continue Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Truckee, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
