MILWAUKEE — Aaron Judge hit the 58th and 59th home runs of his magical season Sunday afternoon, leaving himself two short of tying the American League single-season record.
In his second at-bat, Judge took a 92 mph sinker from the Milwaukee Brewers‘ Jason Alexander that leaked over the plate in the second inning and deposited it 414 feet away in the right-field stands. Then, in the seventh inning, he hit a 443-foot homer to left field off Luis Perdomo.
Judge went 4-for-5 overall with three runs scored and four RBIs in the Yankees’ 12-8 victory.
These were his first home runs since hitting a pair against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, and they moved Judge into a tie for ninth place on the single-season home run list with now-teammate Giancarlo Stanton (2017) and Babe Ruth (1921).
With 16 games remaining, Judge has ample time to become only the third AL player to reach 60 home runs. Babe Ruth first did so in 1927, and Roger Maris broke his record — and for nearly four decades held the major league mark — with 61 in 1961.
The 30-year-old Judge, the AL MVP favorite who could win both the Triple Crown and lead the league in all three triple-slash categories, has carried the Yankees amid injuries that saw their once-mighty division lead whittled. New York leads the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East by 5½ games.
On the season, Judge is hitting .316/.419/.701 with 59 home runs, 127 RBIs and 16 stolen bases while spending a majority of his games playing center field regularly for the first time. He is set to reach free agency this winter and is expected to command a contract worth more than $300 million.