All-Star slugger Aaron Judge hit his 61st home run as the New York Yankees secured their 20th American League East title. The Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 8-3 on Wednesday night at the Rogers Centre.
Judge now has the same number of home runs as Roger Maris, who set the Major League Baseball single-season home run record in 1961. The outfielder’s legendary strike came deep in the seventh inning against Blue Jays left-handed reliever Tim Mayza with a runner on base.
“It’s an incredible honor,” Judge said. “Getting a chance to be associated with one of the Yankee greats, one of baseball’s greats, words can’t describe it”.
61 years apart, #AaronJudge joins Roger Maris. pic.twitter.com/wtR4trUbYy
— MLB (@MLB) September 29, 2022
Patty Judge, Judge’s mother, was seated in the front row on top of the Yankees dugout when the special moment occurred.
“I’m nothing without my family,” Judge said. “They mean the world to me. They’re the reason that I’m here”.
Mom and Maris Jr. react to 61 💙 pic.twitter.com/3jSfiqF0Tc
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 29, 2022
Judge’s homers record
Until the game against Toronto, Judge has been struggling to hit his 61st homer. From April 14 to April 21, the 30-year-old went seven games without hitting a home run. The AL Rookie of the Year also went through nine games without a single homer from August 13 to August 21.
To tie Babe Ruth’s magic number, Judge hit his 60th home run of the season deep into left field off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Wil Crowe. A few minutes later, outfielder Giancarlo Stanton hit a game-ending grand slam to cap New York’s stunning five-run ninth-inning rally, which led to a 9-8 victory over the Pirates.
No. 60 ties The Sultan of Swat for 2nd all-time in American League history!@TheJudge44 👨⚖️ pic.twitter.com/DNwFXsJFMC
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 21, 2022
Stanton hit 59 home runs for the Miami Marlins in his National League MVP season in 2017. And, while Stanton fell just short of 60 home runs, nothing appeared to slow Judge down in 2022.
Judge stroked home run No. 59 on a 1-2 count, driving reliever Angel Perdomo 443 feet to left field for his second home run of the game against the Milwaukee Brewers. In the same game, Judge hit his 58th home run of the season on a third-pitch sinker 414 feet to right field off Brewers pitcher Jason Alexander.
Masterful Mashing.
59th of the year. 2nd of the game. #AllRise pic.twitter.com/5XKksQuDYX
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 18, 2022
Chasing Triple Crown
Judge is also attempting to become the Yankees’ third Triple Crown winner after Lou Gehrig in 1934 and Mickey Mantle in 1956. He came into Wednesday’s game with a league-leading.314 batting average and logging 130 RBIs, which he lowered slightly with a 1-for-4 performance.
Players must have 3.1 plate appearances per team game and 502 plate appearances for the entire 162-game season to qualify for the batting title. As of now, Judge led the American League batting race with.31341, followed by Minnesota Twins Luis Arraez with.31332 and Boston Red Sox Xander Bogaerts with.30867.
“He’s as beloved as they become,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Everyone is just so excited for him, and because Aaron is the way he is everyone feels a part of it. And that’s who he is as a teammate”.
In a three-game weekend against the Baltimore Orioles, Judge will face Austin Voth on Friday, Jordan Lyles on Saturday, and Kyle Bradish on Sunday.
This will be the Yankees’ final regular-season series at Yankee Stadium, and thus Judge’s final chance to hit his 62nd home run in front of home fans, could possibly be his last moment with the team as Judge turned down the Yankees’ seven-year, $213.5 million contract extension back in April, instead choosing to bet on himself and enter free agency.