NEW YORK –
Aaron Judge hit his 60th home run Tuesday night, matching Babe Ruth and within a season record set by Roger Maris in the American League.
The New York Yankees slugger drove a 3-1 sinker from Pittsburgh’s Wil Crowe 430 feet to the left field seats leading the ninth inning. Judge’s third home run in two games and ninth in September thrilled a screaming crowd at Yankee Stadium. He answered requests for a curtain despite New York’s 8-5 deficit.
He matched Ruth’s total for the 1927 Yankees and has 15 games left to match and surpass Maris’ total for New York in 1961.
Judge leads the big leagues with 128 RBIs and is among the AL hitting leaders with a .316 average as he seeks to win the first Triple Crown since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012.
Ruth became the first major league player to hit 60 home runs when, on September 30, 1927, the penultimate game of the season, he hit a two-run right drive in the eighth inning against Tom Zachary of Washington.
Roger Maris Jr. and Kevin Maris, sons of the former player, were both on site.
Fans in the outfield seats stood up as Judge approached the plate.