Yankees Roll Over Rockies As Judge Hits #50 & 51; Boone: "I wouldn't put any limit on what he can do."

Aaron Judge approaching the plate on #50. Photo by Jason Schott.

Aaron Judge’s march to more history continued on Sunday, as he blasted two home runs in the Yankees’ 10-3 win over the Colorado Rockies at Yankee Stadium.

#99 hit #50 in the first inning, a two-run shot, and #51 in the seventh, a solo bomb that was part of a “trifecta,” as Yankees Manager Aaron Boone put it, along with home runs by Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton. 

Judge has now hit 50-plus home runs in a season three times in his career. He is now just the second Yankee with at least three 50-plus HR campaigns, with the only other Babe Ruth, who had four, 1920, '21, '27, and '28. Judge is just the fifth player in Major League Baseball history to do it, along with Ruth, Sammy Sosa (four - 1998-2001), Mark McGwire (four - 1996-99), and Alex Rodriguez (2001, '02, '07). Rodriguez's last 50-homer campaign came with the Yankees, while his first two came with the Texas Rangers.

The first time was when Judge hit 52 in his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2017, and then in 2022, when he hit an American League and Yankees team record 62 to win the AL Most Valuable Player Award.

This is the same pace Judge had two years ago, as he also had 51 home runs through 131 games. He is now one of three players in Yankee franchise history to have accomplished this feat, along with Babe Ruth (53 in 1921) and Roger Maris (51 in 1961, when he hit 61). Judge is just one of three to do it in Major League Baseball history to do it multiple times, along with Sosa (three, 1998, 1999, 2001) and McGwire (twice, 1998 and '99).

Judge now has five multi-home run games this season, with the most recent instance Wednesday, when he hit two in an 8-1 win over Cleveland. He also has 39 career multi-home run games, the fourth-most in franchise history, behind only The Babe (68), Mickey Mantle (46) and Lou Gehrig (43). Judge has the most by any player in MLB history through his first 964 career games, ahead of Ralph Kiner's 34. The 39 for Judge have come since the 2017 campaign, most in MLB, well ahead of Manny Machado's 32.

By the way, Judge also has 122 RBI, nearly one a game since this was the Yankees’ 131st game, as they improved to 77-54. By comparison, in 2022, he had 131.

"I've run out of words, you know, honestly, just running out of words with what he's doing," Boone said when asked to describe how Judge already has these numbers, and it's not even September yet. "When we get on the train (to Washington for their series with the Nationals), I have to get the Thesaurus out and then get to work, because it is amazing."

When asked, if he were a betting man, how many homers he thinks Judge will finish with, Boone said, "A lot...I wouldn't want to put a limit on it...It's, as I said, we're all running out of superlatives of what we're seeing, especially in this time where, you know, hitting's difficult. It's just fun to watch him - first of all, who he is and the teammate that he is, and then just, his desire and obsession with getting just a little bit better each and every year."

Judge has now hit seven home runs in his last six games (since August 20), nine HR in his last ten games (since August 14), 10 HR in his last 13 (since 8/11), 16 HR in his last 27 (back to 7/26), and 19 HR in his last 36 dating back to July 12.

The Yankees have 31 games left, so it is not out of the realm of possibility that he could test Barry Bonds' single-season home run record of 73, set in 2001. It would take 22 to tie and 23 to make it to 74, which, with the pace he is on (shown above) and his proficiency for multiple-home run games, it could be possible.

On how Judge has put himself in the conversation with the Bonds mark, Boone said, "Again, I'm not going to put a limit on what Aaron Judge can do, you know, but at the same time, I know that's not necessarily his focus or goal. He's going up there trying to have the best at-bats, help us win a championship. That's his obsession - I wouldn't put any limit on what he can do."

The Rockies got the early lead in this one in the top of the first against Yankees starter Marcus Stroman. Charlie Blackmon walked and went all the way to third base when Yankees 3B Jazz Chisholm Jr. made a throwing error on a single by Ezequiel Tovar. Chisholm then committed another error on a Ryan McMahon fielder's choice, but Stroman struck out Brendan Rogers and got Michael Toglia to line out to center field to get out of it.

The Yankees returned the favor in the bottom of the first against Rockies starter Austin Gomber. Gleyber Torres drew a walk before Juan Soto flew out to center field. Then, Judge crushed one into the Rockies bullpen in left-center field, #50, a two-run shot to give them a 2-1 lead.

In the second, the Yankees got a couple more runs, as Torres and Soto each had RBI singles.

Colorado battled back, as they got a run in the fourth when Drew Romo got an RBI single, but he was thrown out at second base trying to stretch it into a double. Ryan McMahon then got an RBI double in the fifth to pull the Rockies within a run, at 4-3.

The Yankees looked to respond in the bottom of the fifth, as Soto and Judge each drew one-out walks, and then Stanton blooped one into left field for a single to load the bases.

Soon after, all the attention went to home plate umpire Nick Mahrley, who was on the ground holding his head. He was hit in the jaw by the barrel of Stanton’s broken bat, and he would have to exit the game. Marvin Hudson moved from first base to the plate, and there were just three umpires for the rest of the game.

The scary scene during the bottom of the fifth. Photo by Jason Schott.

When play resumed, Jazz Chisholm Jr. struck out and Anthony Volpe bounced out to short, so it remained a 4-3 Yankees lead.

Gomber stayed on through the sixth inning, and he allowed four runs (all earned) on six hits and three walks, with four strikeouts.

The Rockies then turned to right-Handel Jeff Criswell for the seventh, which he started by getting Gleyber Torres to ground out to open the frame.

Soto then blasted one to right field, his 37th home run of the season, and the crowd was at fever pitch as Judge went to the plate, and he took one the opposite way, also to right field, for #51.

Aaron Judge's 51st home run. 1 of 3 pics - Photos by Jason Schott.

At that point, with The Stadium awoken from its somewhat Sunday slumber, Rockies pitching coach Darryl Scott went to talk to Criswell. Have to wonder what was said in that conversation.

Then, another prodigious Yankee slugger, Stanton, joined the party, as he crushed one to center field, for his 23rd of the season, to make it 7-3.

By this point, it was around 1,200 feet worth of home runs in the inning, and the fourth time this season that the Judge-Soto-Stanton trio homered in the same game. The most recent instance was two Sundays ago, August 11, in an 8-7 win over the Texas Rangers 

It was the first time the Yankees went back-to-back-to-back in nearly four years since September 17, 2020, when Brett Gardner, DJ LeMahieu, and Luke Voit did in the fourth inning against Toronto.

Boone said of the frenzy in The Stadium during that inning, "Yeah, that was there trifecta right there. Yeah, you know, it's a tight game, you know, they hung around, they battled back, they were putting good at-bats on us, we couldn't separate really, and then, you know, Juan gets it rolling, Judge-y does what he does, and G leaves no doubt, so just three, you know, get the energy going, big time in the building, and it was fun to witness."

Gleyber Torres joined the party in the eighth when he blasted a three-run shot to put the game away at 10-3 Yankees.

Stroman earned the win to improve to 9-6 with a 3.88 ERA (earned run average), and his final line was: 5 innings, 5 hits, 3 runs (all earned), 3 walks, 5 strikeouts.