Yankees win series finale over Dodgers without Aaron Judge in lineup

LOS ANGELES — The Yankees scored 10 runs in the first two games of this series, all of them coming via the home run.

On Sunday, small ball, if one can even call it that, ruled the day — or most of it, anyway.

Scoring their first two runs on a pair of softly hit grounders, the Yankees — who received a terrific start by Domingo German and continued excellence out of their bullpen — beat the Dodgers, 4-1, on Sunday night in front of a sellout crowd of 52,816 at Dodger Stadium.

Rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe, who entered in a 6-for-56 skid, provided a cushion in the ninth with a two-out, two-run homer to extend a 2-1 lead.

“Man, the guys did so many things well tonight,” Aaron Boone said. “A lot of winning things happening in that game.”

The victory allowed the Yankees — who were without Aaron Judge, who had a sore right foot after busting through the bullpen door in right while making a catch during Saturday’s 6-3 win — to take two of three from one of the National League’s best teams and finish this trip 4-2.

“Credit to a lot of different people,” Boone said of his team continuing to push ahead despite the injuries that keep coming. “Obviously, Judge and [Anthony] Rizzo and Gleyber [Torres] have been constants for us in their consistency, but we’ve gotten contributions from all over the place.”

The Yankees (36-25) snapped a scoreless tie in the seventh, thrilled to be facing anyone other than rookie righthander Bobby Miller, who allowed one hit and struck out seven in six innings.

Brusdar Graterol struck out the still-struggling DJ LeMahieu (in a 9-for-59 skid after going 0-for-4) to start the inning, but Jake Bauers lined a single to left.

When Isiah Kiner-Falefa put down a well-placed bunt to the third-base side of the mound, Graterol, his momentum taking him toward the line, threw off-balance and wild into short rightfield. The error on Kiner-Falefa’s hit put runners at second and third.

With the Dodgers using five infielders, Kyle Higashioka shattered his bat on a grounder to short. Chris Taylor chose to take the easy out at first as the Yankees went ahead 1-0.

German, who allowed three hits through the first six innings, recorded two quick outs in the bottom of the seventh. Then he left an 0-and-2 curveball over the plate to J.D. Martinez, who blasted a drive to leftfield for his 14th homer and a 1-1 tie.

After David Peralta reached on an infield single, Boone called for righty Clay Holmes to face Miguel Vargas. Holmes walked him but struck out Taylor on three pitches, the last a nasty slider that froze the shortstop.

German made it four of his last six starts in which he’s allowed one earned run or fewer, giving up four hits in 6 2⁄3 innings. German, who featured an outstanding curveball that helped drop his ERA to 3.69, walked one and struck out six.

“Very satisfied tonight with the outing,” he said through his interpreter. “We wanted to be aggressive and execute and command all the pitches facing this lineup. I felt like we are able to do that.”

German threw 99 pitches, 71 strikes. Said Boone, “That’s what command looks like.”

The Yankees took the lead in the eighth against Evan Phillips. Rizzo worked a one-out walk and Giancarlo Stanton, who grew up going to this stadium with his father, Mike, lasered a double into the gap in left-center. It came off his bat at 112.3 mph.

Oswaldo Cabrera, who was optioned to the minors after Wednesday’s game in Seattle but made another cross-country flight Saturday after Greg Allen got hurt (and homered Saturday night), trickled one to second, which allowed Rizzo to score for a 2-1 lead.

Of the two soft-contact balls by Higashioka and Cabrera — with the runners going on contact each time — Boone smiled.

“Good job,” he said, “of not hitting it too hard by Oswaldo and Higgy.”

Holmes struck out James Outman looking at a slider to start the bottom of the eighth and retired Mookie Betts on a grounder to third. Lefthander Wandy Peralta got Freddie Freeman to hit a weak grounder for the final out.

After Volpe hit his ninth homer — a shot to left-center that made it 4-1 — Peralta walked leadoff man Will Smith in the ninth but picked him off first. Peralta then quickly retired Max Muncy and Martinez for his fourth save in five chances.