With a 449-foot blast to left-center 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.
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).
Through 101 Team Games:
Judge: 40 | Maris: 40 | Ruth: 34
July 29
No. 40 — He Does It All
Pitcher: Kris Bubic, KCR | Inning: 3
Location: Left-Center | Distance: 449 feet | Box Score
After robbing M.J. Melendez of a home run in the first inning, Judge got an 81-mile-per-hour changeup from Kris Bubic in the third inning and he crushed it to left-center, giving the Yankees a 3-0 lead.
Walk-Off No. 3 | Pitcher: Scott Barlow, KCR | Inning: 9
Location: 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
Location: 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
Location: 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
Location: Left-Center | Distance: 436 feet
No. 36 | Pitcher: Tyler Wells, BAL | Inning: 5
Location: 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
Location: 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
Location: Left | Distance: 401 feet
No. 33 | Pitcher: Kaleb Ort, BOS | Inning: 6
Location: 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
Location: 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 | Inning: 8
Location: Left | Distance: 419 feet | Box Score
“It’s hard for me to relate to that,” Manager Aaron Boone, whose career-high was 26 home runs in 2002, said of Judge ending a five-game homerless streak to hit No. 30 in a 16-0 win against Pittsburgh. “So it’s been pretty impressive, whatever — halfway in here — the kind of baseball he’s playing. Obviously the power has been right there.”
Pitcher: Cole Irvin, OAK | Inning: 1
Location: Left | Distance: 429 feet | Box Score
“It’d be great if it happened,” Judge said of the concept of hitting 62 home runs this season. “It’ll be something that’s pretty cool, but I think having a ring on my finger at the end of the year would be even better.”
Walk-Off No. 2 | Pitcher: Seth Martinez, HOU | Inning: 10
Location: Left-Center | Distance: 417 feet | Box Score
“I told him I have to quit taking him for granted,” Manager Aaron Boone said after Judge hit a three-run home run in the 10th inning to give the Yankees a huge win over Houston.
No. 26 | Pitcher: Shane Baz, TB | Inning: 4
Location: Left | Distance: 396 feet
No. 27 | Pitcher: Colin Poche, TB | Inning: 7
Location: Left | Distance: 406 feet | Box Score
Judge’s 22nd career multihomer game helped offset a wildly hot Isaac Paredes, who had homered four times in two games for the Rays.
Pitcher: Shane McClanahan, TB | Inning: 1
Location: Right | Distance: 364 feet | Box Score
When asked what powered the Yankees to a 13th straight win at home, Judge said, “The fans. They’re loud, they’re on their feet all game, from the very first pitch they’re there and then the top of the ninth they were screaming.” Also helping: The short homer Judge hit against Shane McClanahan, a favorite for the American League Cy Young Award, would not have cleared the fence in any other stadium.
No. 23 | Pitcher: Matt Swarmer, CHC | Inning: 1
Location: Left | Distance: 383 feet
No. 24 | Pitcher: Matt Swarmer, CHC | Inning: 5
Location: Left-Center | Distance: 431 feet | Box Score
“It’s fun, I don’t mind leading off,” Judge said after hitting his second career leadoff homer. “It doesn’t matter if I’m leading off or hitting second.”
Pitcher: Cole Sands, MIN | Inning: 1
Location: Center | Distance: 431 feet | Box Score
“Nobody has to feel like they’ve got to do everything,” Judge said after he and Giancarlo Stanton homered in the same game for the 23rd time in five seasons. “Hey, if we don’t get a hit or get the job done that time, I know the guy behind me is going to pick it up.”
Pitcher: Beau Brieske, DET | Inning: 1
Location: Right | Distance: 378 feet | Box Score
A leadoff home run set the tone in the Yankees’ fifth win in a row.
Pitcher: Elvin Rodriguez, DET | Inning: 3
Location: Right | Distance: 378 feet | Box Score
Judge became the first player in the majors this season to reach 20 homers, with his third-inning blast landing just in front of the Judge’s Chambers cheering section in right field.
Pitcher: Shohei Ohtani, LAA | Inning: 3
Location: Left | Distance: 405 feet | Box Score
“They’re really good at reading pitchers,” Joe Maddon, the Angels’ manager at the time, said after Shohei Ohtani allowed three home runs against the Yankees, including one to Judge. “They’re very good at it.”
Pitcher: Colin Poche, TB | Inning: 8
Location: Right-Center | Distance: 420 feet | Box Score
Serving as the team’s designated hitter, Judge had two hits, including a homer in the eighth, but it was not enough in a 4-2 loss.
No. 16 | Pitcher: Jordan Lyles, BAL | Inning: 1
Location: Left-Center | Distance: 418 feet
No. 17 | Pitcher: Jordan Lyles, BAL | Inning: 5
Location: Left | Distance: 405 feet | Box Score
“It’s really special,” Manager Aaron Boone said after Judge’s 20th career multihomer game. “I sometimes take it for granted but not right now. He’s a really special player and obviously really carrying us offensively.”
Pitcher: Kendal Graveman, CHW | Inning: 8
Location: Left | Distance: 431 feet | Box Score
Judge’s eighth-inning home run briefly tied the game, but Chicago scored two runs in the ninth to win.
No. 13 | Pitcher: Spenser Watkins, BAL | Inning: 3
Location: Right-Center | Distance: 410 feet
No. 14 | Pitcher: Joey Krehbiel, BAL | Inning: 5
Location: Center | Distance: 422 feet | Box Score
“I learned my lesson and decided to go to right field after that,” Judge said after his first-inning blast went 399 feet but was stopped by a new wall in left field at Camden Yards.
Pitcher: Vince Velasquez, CHW | Inning: 4
Location: Right | Distance: 355 feet | Box Score
“We got torched,” White Sox Manager Tony La Russa said after Judge and Giancarlo Stanton both homered for the Yankees. “It was almost always we missed our location. You would see the catcher setting up the pitcher in a different place, and missing. That’s what a hitter is supposed to do. They punished it.”
Pitcher: Ryan Burr, CHW | Inning: 7
Location: Left | Distance: 456 feet | Box Score
“You know if you don’t get it done, the guy in front of you or behind you will,” Giancarlo Stanton said in a game in which he, Judge and Josh Donaldson all homered. “It’s good, it lets you kind of get deep into your at-bat and not rush your plan and try to execute best as possible.”
Walk-Off No. 1 | Pitcher: Jordan Romano, TOR | Inning: 9
Location: Left | Distance: 414 feet | Box Score
“It’s a weird feeling,” Judge said after hitting a walk-off homer against Toronto. “You hear the crowd going crazy and you see the bench, you see guys jumping over the railing. A special moment you get to share with them.”
Pitcher: Alek Manoah, TOR | Inning: 6
Location: Left | Distance: 427 feet | Box Score
“It definitely pumped some life into us,” Manager Aaron Boone said of Judge’s 427-foot shot.
No. 7 | Pitcher: Daniel Lynch, KCR | Inning: 1
Location: Right | Distance: 456 feet
No. 8 | Pitcher: Josh Staumont, KCR | Inning: 9
Location: Center | Distance: 395 feet | Box Score
“What can I say?” pitcher Luis Severino asked of Judge, who homered in the first and ninth innings. “The guy’s a monster.”
Pitcher: Dylan Coleman, KCR | Inning: 7
Location: Right | Distance: 389 feet | Box Score
“It was a close game,” Manager Aaron Boone said. “We get out of the gates with three runs, but it was 3-2 going into the seventh. There were some really good at-bats that set that up.”
Pitcher: Paul Fry, BAL | Inning: 8
Location: Left | Distance: 415 feet | Box Score
Judge’s fifth homer of the season came after a costly series of errors by Baltimore. “Whenever you get extra outs in a baseball game, you always want to cash in on those,” first baseman Anthony Rizzo said.
Pitcher: Alexander Wells, BAL | Inning: 8
Location: Left | Distance: 392 feet | Box Score
Judge joined Lou Gehrig and Jerry Mumphrey as Yankees to homer on their 30th birthdays.
No. 2 | Pitcher: Eli Morgan, CLE | Inning: 3
Location: Right-Center | Distance: 397 feet
No. 3 | Pitcher: Tanner Tully, CLE | Inning: 5
Location: Right | Distance: 364 feet | Box Score
“Judgy kind of had that look in his eye tonight,” Manager Aaron Boone said. “Sometimes he tells me he’s got us, but he kind of gave me that look right before the game, like: ‘I got this.’”
Pitcher: Jose Berrios, TOR | Inning: 5
Location: Left | Distance: 413 feet | Box Score
Anthony Rizzo, Gleyber Torres and Judge all homered, but it wasn’t enough in a Yankees loss. Judge’s first homer of the year came in the Yankees’ seventh game.
