Judge hits his 50th home run for the Yankees, becoming the 5th player to do it 3 times
NEW YORK — Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit his 50th home run of the season Sunday, hitting his first inning against the Colorado Rockies.
Judge hit an 0-2 changeup off Austin Gomber into the visitors’ bullpen in left-center field to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. It was his 18th first-inning home run this season, tying Alex Rodriguez’s 2001 record for the major league record.
Judge joined Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Babe Ruth as the only players in major league history with three 50-homer seasons.
Rodriguez had two 50-homer seasons for Texas in 2001 and 2002 and hit 54 for the Yankees in 2007.
Sosa had four consecutive 50-homer seasons from 1998 to 2001, McGwire did the same from 1996 to 1999, including his 70-homer season in 1998. Ruth had back-to-back 50-homer seasons in 1920 and 1921 and 1927 and 1928 with the Yankees.
Ruth hit 60 home runs in 1927, an American League record that stood until Roger Maris hit 61 in 1961 for the Yankees. Judge broke Maris’ single-season American League record by hitting 62 in 2022.
Two years ago, Judge reached 50 in New York’s 129th game when he homered in Anaheim against Angels reliever Ryan Tepera.
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