Yankees' Aaron Judge hits 20th first-inning home run, 53rd of the season
NEW YORK (AP) — A day from the end of a remarkable regular season that will include his first batting title, Aaron Judge reached another milestone with his 20th first-inning home run of the season.
Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Ryan McMahon hit early home runs off Tomoyuki Sugano, and the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-1 on Saturday to remain tied with Toronto atop the AL East heading into the regular season’s final day.
“They're the heartbeat of this team,” McMahon said of his prodigious teammates. “They’re the big sluggers. They get it done, coming through when the team needs them the most. You kind of expect it because that’s just who they are to their core.”
Judge leads the major leagues with a .331 average, 18 points ahead of the Athletics' Jacob Wilson, and has 53 homers and 114 RBIs. The two-time AL MVP has nine homers in his last 17 games.
Judge and Stanton have homered in the same game 59 times, with the Yankees winning 52.
“Something we kind of dreamed and talked about ever since he got traded over in '18,” Judge said. “It’s kind of cool to look back so far and see him doing that 59 times. It’s unbelievable and definitely hoping for more.”
Judge drove an 0-1 sweeper from Tomoyuki Sugano into the left-field seats, driving in the first run, and added a two-run single in the fifth. The previous major league record for first-inning homers was 18, set by the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez in 2001 and tied by Judge last year.
New York has 49 first-inning homers, two more than the previous mark set by Atlanta in 2023.
Just before Judge added a two-run single in the fifth inning against Grant Wolfram after manager Aaron Boone was ejected from the dugout by plate umpire Ramon De Jesus for arguing called strikes on the first and third pitches to his star, both of which appeared to be inside.
“I didn’t even boil over. No way I should have been kicked out there, but an emotional response," Boone said. "There were a couple of calls early, but once again by him a real quick hook.”
Boone was ejected for the seventh time this season, most among big league managers, and the 46th time in his managing career.
“I didn’t really hear him even say much, so I was surprised he got tossed there,” Judge said. “Always appreciate it when Boonie has our back.”
Stanton is hitting .272 with 24 homers and 65 RBIs in 76 games since returning in mid-June from tendon inflammation in both elbows,
“They’ve been obviously right in the middle of pretty much everything here down the stretch that’s put us in a position to at least have a meaningful game tomorrow,” Boone said. “Those two guys are game changers, obviously.”
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