NEW YORK — Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit his 50th homer Sunday in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies.
Judge drove an 0-2 changeup from Austin Comber into left-center into the visiting bullpen to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. It was his 18th homer in the first inning this season, matching Alex Rodriguez (2001) for the major league record.
Judge joins Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Babe Ruth in major league history with three 50-homer seasons.
Rodriguez had 50-homer seasons for Texas in 2001 and 2002 and hit 54 for the Yankees in 2007.
Sosa had four straight 50-homer seasons from 1998 to 2001, and McGuire did the same from 1996 to 1999, including his 70-homer season in 1998. Ruth had 50-homer seasons in 1920 and 1921 and 1927. With the Yankees.
Ruth hit 60 homers in 1927, an AL record that stood until Roger Morris hit 61 for the Yankees in 1961. Judge broke Maurice’s single-season AL record with 62 in 2022.
Two years ago, Judge reached 50 in New York’s 129th game when he went deep in Anaheim against Angels reliever Ryan Debera. Sunday’s game against Colorado will be the Yankees’ 131st.
In 2017, Judge hit 52 home runs and won the American League Rookie of the Year Award.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
