Aaron Judge hits 50th home run; 5th player to do it 3 times

NEW YORK – New York Yankees pitcher Aaron Judge hit his 50th home run of the season on Sunday, hitting it in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies.

Judge scored on a double off Austin Gomber in the visitors’ relief bullpen in left-center field to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. It was his 18th hit in the first inning of the season, tying the major league record set by Alex Rodriguez (2001).

Judge joins Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Babe Ruth as the only players in major league history to score 50 home runs in three seasons.

Rodriguez had two 50-home run seasons for Texas in 2001 and 2002 and hit 54 home runs for the Yankees in 2007.

Sosa had four consecutive 50-hit seasons from 1998 to 2001, and McGwire did the same from 1996 to 1999, including his 70-hit season in 1998. Ruth had two consecutive 50-hit seasons in 1920 and 1921 and 1927 and 1928 with the Yankees.

Ruth hit 60 home runs in 1927, an American League record that stood until Roger Maris hit 61 for the Yankees in 1961. Judge broke Maris’ single-season American League record with 62 home runs in 2022.

Two years ago, Judge reached 50 in New York’s 129th game when he hit a home run in Anaheim against Angels reliever Ryan Tepera. Sunday’s game against Colorado will be the Yankees’ 131st.

Judge hit 52 home runs in 2017, when he won the American League Rookie of the Year Award.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.