With a 449-foot blast to left-center in the third inning on July 29, Aaron Judge of the Yankees became the first player in Major League Baseball to reach 40 home runs this season. That shouldn’t come as a surprise since he was the first to 10, 20 and 30 as well.
Then in the eighth inning, Judge put an exclamation point on his day, hitting a grand slam for No. 41 that turned a close game into a blowout.
As Judge pursues the Yankees’ single-season home run record — every non-Yankee who has hit at least 60 home runs has been connected to performance-enhancing drugs — we are tracking his progress against where Roger Maris was at in 1961 (when he hit 61) and where Babe Ruth was at in 1927 (when he hit 60).
Pitcher: Kris Bubic, KCR | Inning: 3
Loc: Left-Center | Distance: 449 feet
Pitcher: Jackson Kowar, KCR | Inning: 8
Loc: Right | Distance: 370 feet | Box Score
After robbing M.J. Melendez of a home run in the first inning, Judge hit a two-run homer in the third for his 40th. Five innings — and one rain delay — later, he went deep again, this time with the bases loaded. He finished the game 3 for 5 with 6 R.B.I. “Just takes the magic wand and does his thing,” Yankees ace Gerrit Cole said of Judge.
Walk-Off | Pitcher: Scott Barlow, KCR | Inning: 9
Loc: Left-Center | Distance: 431 feet | Box Score
“It doesn’t cease to amaze the season he’s putting together,” Manager Aaron Boone said of Judge’s ninth-inning homer off Scott Barlow that gave the Yankees their only run of the day — and a walk-off win at home. Boone added: “Just gets a pitch and to put it up in the air where he did is just, not many people can hit it like that and ride it out like he did.”
Pitcher: Taijuan Walker, NYM | Inning: 1
Loc: Right-Center | Distance: 423 feet | Box Score
Judge and Anthony Rizzo hit back-to-back homers in the top of the first inning, but the Mets answered with four runs in the bottom of the first and cruised to a 6-3 victory.
Pitcher: Dean Kremer, BAL | Inning: 3
Loc: Left | Distance: 456 feet | Box Score
“I saw a lot of the greats — Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera — they always hit above .300 and the power just came with it,” Judge said after raising his average for the season to .294. “That’s always been a goal of mine to hit above .300 and we’ll keep working towards it.”
No. 35 | Pitcher: Tyler Wells, BAL | Inning: 3
Loc: Left-Center | Distance: 436 feet
No. 36 | Pitcher: Tyler Wells, BAL | Inning: 5
Loc: Left-Center | Distance: 465 feet | Box Score
“It doesn’t help when you throw it down the middle to him,” Tyler Wells said of Judge, who got “M-V-P” chants despite the game being played in Baltimore. “The first home run I gave to him, I was trying to go up there, and just didn’t get it in enough. The second one, he just took a pitch right down the middle and he hit a long way.”
Pitcher: Brandon Bielak, HOU | Inning: 9
Loc: Left | Distance: 410 feet | Box Score
Judge’s three-run home run in the ninth landed on the train tracks above the wall in left field at Houston’s Minute Maid Park, but that wasn’t enough against the Astros, as the Yankees lost, 7-5.
July 16
Nos. 32 and 33 — Heating Up
No. 32 | Pitcher: Nick Pivetta, BOS | Inning: 5
Loc: Left | Distance: 401 feet
No. 33 | Pitcher: Kaleb Ort, BOS | Inning: 6
Loc: Left-Center | Distance: 444 feet | Box Score
“It’s incredible,” Judge said when told he was on pace for 59 home runs with one game left before the All-Star break. “We still got one more day. Don’t cut me short now.”
Pitcher: Jeff Hoffman, CIN | Inning: 8
Loc: Right-Center | Distance: 435 feet | Box Score
“He’s one of the best pitchers in the league,” Judge said of the right-handed starter Luis Castillo after he allowed just one run in seven innings and the Reds beat the Yankees in the 10th. “He just didn’t leave too many mistakes for us to hit. When you have 100 and you’re painting the corners, that’s in for a tough day.”
Pitcher: Manny Bañuelos, PIT |…
Read More: Aaron Judge Home Run Tracker: 40 and 41 Come Together