(New York) New York Yankees power hitter Aaron Judge hit his 50e home run of the season on Sunday, doing so in the first inning of a 10-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
Judge hit a pitch from Austin Gomber into the Rockies’ bullpen, giving the Yankees a 2-1 lead. It was his 18the first-round home run this season, tying the Majors record set by Alex Rodriguez in 2001.
Judge became the fifth player in baseball history to hit at least 50 home runs in three different seasons, joining Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Babe Ruth.
“It’s a great accomplishment, but there’s more to do,” Judge said. “Our team has a big mission and we’re all focused on that right now.”
In major league baseball, only the Los Angeles Dodgers have a better record than the Yankees.
Judge even added a 51and home runin seventh.
Gleyber Torres, Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton also scored in the victory.
Rodriguez hit at least 50 home runs with the Texas Rangers in 2001 and 2002, then hit 54 with the Yankees in 2007.
Sosa had four consecutive 50-homer campaigns from 1998-2001 and McGwire did the same from 1996-99, including his 70-homer season in 1998.
Ruth had 50-homer campaigns with the Yankees in 1920, 1921, 1927 and 1928.
PHOTO TOM SANDE, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Babe Ruth
Ruth hit 60 home runs in 1927, an American record that stood until Roger Maris hit 61 in 1961 with the Yankees.
Judge broke that mark in 2022 with 62 home runs, and he also hit 52 in 2017.
This year, Judge reached that plateau at 131e Yankees game. Two years ago, he hit 50e of his 62 home runs in the 129e part.
We can’t say enough about him, especially in a tougher time for hitters. It’s just fun to watch him go. Not only the kind of teammate he is, but the fact that he wants to get a little bit better every year.
Aaron Boone, manager of the New York Yankees
After being thrown out in the second and drawing a walk in the fifth, Judge catapulted Jeff Criswell’s fastball into the right-field stands for his 51e countryside circuit.
It was Judge’s seventh home run in his last six games and 10the in his last 13. He has hit 47 four-goal shots in his last 102 games.
“It’s beyond belief,” Stanton said. “He does something unique every day.”
It was also the 39the part of more than one home run by the Yankees captain, and his fifth of the kind this season.