Aaron Judge: Yankees star hits number 55 homer and keeps pace to reach 65


The Yankees’ hitter hit his 55th home run in the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium.

The fourth-inning homer led the Yankees to a 5-4 win and keeps Judge on his way to the Most Valuable Player award — though he still faces stiff competition from Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani.

With 25 games remaining, Judge is on track to hit 65 homers — which would set a new Yankees record for most in a season. To reach the milestone, he must hit a homer every 2.5 games.

Judge is also just six homers away from tying Roger Maris’ 1961 American League record of 61.

“I was lucky to get a run on the board,” said Judge after New York’s 7-1 win in the second game of the doubleheader.

“That’s all I can really say. The rookie [Twins pitcher Louie Varland] made its debut and shut us down there for a while. He had a good fast tempo and worked all his pitches. It [Judge’s home run] got some things going, got this offensive going a little bit,” he added, according to MLB.com.

The season has the potential to be historic for the 30-year-old slugger — with six home runs in April, 12 in May, 11 in June, 13 in July, nine in August and four this month, Judge is always on the rise closer to 65 homer tally.

If he hits the mark, it would be the fifth over-65 home run season in MLB history. Barry Bonds’ highest ever in a single season was in 2001 when he graduated at 73.

CNN’s Ben Morse contributed coverage.