NEW YORK – Aaron Judge stood in his familiar stance during the second inning on Wednesday night: feet anchored slightly apart, arms extended, bat held high and waggling ever so slightly as the Yankees’ captain waited for the next pitch.
It was an offering that secured a place in history. Judge connected for his 50th and 51st home runs of the season in the Yankees’ 8-1 victory over the White Sox at Yankee Stadium, becoming the fourth player in Major League history to post four separate seasons of 50 or more home runs.
Judge joined Babe Ruth (1920, ’21, ’27, ’28), Mark McGwire (1996-99) and Sammy Sosa (1998-2001) in that exclusive club. He and Ruth are the only Yankees to have consecutive years of 50 or more homers – though Judge said he isn’t ready to savor it.
“I can’t. If you sit back and admire it, you’re going to stop your momentum,” Judge said. “There’s a lot of work that needs to be done. Hopefully I have a long career here and we do some special things. We can talk about it at the end.”
More importantly to Judge and the Yankees, the achievement fueled a timely win that pulled the Bombers (90-68) even with the Blue Jays atop the American League East, after Toronto’s loss to the Red Sox. The Jays hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The Yankees have won seven of eight, grabbing a share of first place in the division for the first time since July 3. Toronto, meanwhile, has lost six of its past seven games – one of several wild swings around the Majors in these final days of the regular season.
“It’s unbelievable, but that’s baseball, especially with the expanded postseason,” Judge said. “You’re going to have some moments like this where teams are going back and forth. When I go home, I turn on MLB Network, check all the scores, see what’s happening. It’s pretty amazing.”
One night after popping bottles to celebrate the club’s eighth postseason entry in nine years, Judge jumpstarted the Yanks’ offense with a three-run homer off reliever Jonathan Cannon, drilling a 96.6 mph sinker that sent Anthony Volpe and Trent Grisham circling around the bases.
The ball left Judge’s bat at 106.9 mph, traveling a Statcast-projected 392 feet to the Yankees’ bullpen in center field.
“He hits everything,” said Cannon, who was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte before the game. “I mean, he’s the best hitter in the game for a reason. Just a really good player. I made a bad pitch to him over the plate, and he punished me for it.”
Paul Goldschmidt and Jazz Chisholm Jr. added run-scoring hits in the third inning to support Max Fried, who worked seven innings to complete his first regular season as a Yankee with a 19-5 record and a 2.86 ERA.
While Fried has stood tall atop the rotation, he says he has also relished watching Judge’s daily preparation and performance.
“The consistency is incredible,” Fried said. “Every game that he plays, everyone is giving their best stuff to him, every single day. The consistency and discipline that he’s able to have, not taking an at-bat off and making sure that he’s doing everything that he can – his ability to lock in like that, it’s extremely impressive.”
Grisham hit his 34th homer before Judge added his second homer of the night in the eighth inning, marking his 46th career multihomer game, which ties Mickey Mantle for second most in franchise history. Only Ruth (68) has more.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone called it “another great evening for the captain” and said he has seen improved swings from Judge over the past several weeks, a potential springboard into October.
“Those guys [in the clubhouse] are tight because it starts with him,” Boone said. “He makes it a point to make sure everyone is heard, seen, a part of it. He takes that responsibility very seriously. It’s one of the things that helps us navigate the long, tough season. He’s the total package.”
In his postgame remarks to the team, Judge said he applauded his teammates for maintaining their concentration leading into Wednesday’s game, just hours after they partied in a soggy-carpeted home clubhouse that still smelled faintly of bubbly and beer.
“Walking through here throughout the day, everybody just had a focused, determined look in their eye,” Judge said. “They knew that we punched our ticket into the postseason and have an opportunity to go back to the World Series, but there’s still a greater goal ahead of us in the last couple of games.”
