Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer in the first inning to become the fifth player with three 50-homer seasons and went long again in the seventh, helping the New York Yankees beat the Colorado Rockies 10-3 on Sunday.
Judge reached the 500-homer mark in New York’s 131st game. Two years ago, when he hit 62 homers to break Roger Maris’ single-season record, Judge reached that mark in his 129th game for the Yankees.
After failing to hit a home run in five straight games, Judge reached the milestone when he lined an 0-2 changeup off Austin Gomber (4-9) over the left-field wall into the Colorado bullpen to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.
Judge joins Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Alex Rodriguez as the only players with three 50-homer seasons. Ruth, McGwire and Sosa have four each, while Rodriguez had two with Texas and one with the Yankees in 2007.
It was also Judge’s 18th first-inning homer this season, tying Rodriguez (2001) for the single-season record in a leadoff inning, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
Judge’s second homer came between solo shots from Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton. It was the first time the Yankees had hit three consecutive homers since a Sept. 17, 2020, game against Toronto.
For the Rockies, Venezuelan Ezequiel Tovar went 1-for-5.
For the Yankees, Dominic Soto went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI. Venezuelan Gleyber Torres hit a three-run homer in the eighth.