NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees hitter Aaron Judge hit his 50th home run of the season in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies on Sunday. Then he hit his 51st home run in the seventh inning on a 10:3 victory.
Judge drove an 0-2 changeup from Austin Gomber into the visitors’ bullpen in left center field to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. It was his 18th home run in the first inning this season, tying Alex Rodriguez’s 2001 major league record.
Judge joined Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Babe Ruth as the only players in major league history to have three 50-home run seasons. He was also the first player to have three 50-home run seasons in the first nine years of his career.
“A great performance, but there is still a lot of work to be done,” Judge said after New York’s win. “This team has a big job ahead of them and we are all focused on that right now.”
Rodriguez had two 50-home run seasons for Texas in 2001 and 2002, and he hit 54 for the Yankees in 2007.
Sosa had four consecutive 50-home run seasons from 1998 to 2001. McGwire did the same from 1996 to 1999, including his 70-home run season in 1998. Ruth had two consecutive 50-home run seasons with the Yankees in 1920 and 1921 and 1927 and 1928.
Ruth hit 60 home runs in 1927, an AL record that stood until Roger Maris hit 61 for the Yankees in 1961. Judge broke Maris’ AL single-season record by hitting 62 in 2022.
“We’re running out of superlatives for what we’re seeing, especially during this time when hitting is difficult,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s just fun to watch, especially who he is and what kind of teammate he is, but also just his desire and obsession to get a little better every year. And that’s what we’re seeing.”
Two years ago, Judge hit the 50-run mark in New York’s 129th game when he hit a home run against Angels relief pitcher Ryan Tepera in Anaheim.
Judge hit another home run in the seventh inning against rookie Jeff Criswell. between solo home runs by Juan Soto and Giancarlo StantonAfter hitting a fastball into the right-hand side seats with his first pitch, Judge was greeted by the crowd with a curtain call.
It was the judge 39th multihomer game of his career and his fifth of the season. Judge missed the chance to have his third three-run game when he suffered a groundout in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Yankees captain has hit seven home runs in his last six games, 10 in his last 13 and 47 in his last 102. He is on pace for 63 home runs.
“It’s incredible,” Stanton said. “He does something special every day.”
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