NEW YORK — Aaron Judge wasted no time on Saturday. The Yankees slugger took the first pitch he saw from Tigers rookie Beau Brieske and drove it deep into the right-center field seats. With another sterling pitching performance, that Judge blow was about all the Yankees needed for their 3-0 win over the Tigers at Yankee Stadium.
Behind yet another strong start — this time by Luis Severino — the Yankees (38-15) won their fifth straight game, maintained the best record in baseball and clinched another series. The Yankees have won or split 15 of their 17 completed series this season. They have now racked up eight shutout wins.
Severino pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 10 and permitting just one walk. The right-hander kept the Yankees' rotation rolling in an impressive streak. Their starters have thrown at least six innings in nine straight starts and in 12 of their last 13 starts since May 22. It was the 13th time a Yankees starter has gone at least seven innings, the most in the majors.
Anthony Rizzo also homered, his 13th of the season, and his second in as many games. The first baseman is showing signs of heating up after a cold streak in the month of May.
Judge, however, has not seen a slump this season.
His 378-foot leadoff homer was his major league-leading 21st dinger of the season. The 30-year old is now on pace to hit 62 home runs over the course of the 162-game season.
“I mean with him anything’s possible,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of the Yankees slugger. “That is obviously an enormous number to get to and we got a long way to go there, but I won’t put a cap on anything he could do.”
The last time a player hit 60 or more home runs in a season was 21 years ago when Barry Bonds hit 73.
Judge certainly has the motivation to have a historic season.
Before this season, Judge declined the contract offer the Yankees made to him for 2022 and also an extension offer that would have been worth over $230 million. The slugger bet on himself and so far he looks likely to cash in with a record-setting contract when he hits the free-agent market this winter — if he continues to stay healthy for a second straight season.
Judge is already putting his name in the Yankees record books with some impressive names.
He had a season-high-tying four hits on Friday vs. Detroit, including his 20th homer of the season. He is the fifth player in Yankees history to hit at least 20 homers in the club’s first 52 games, joining Babe Ruth (23 in 1928, 21 in 1930 and 1926, and 20 in 1932 and 1927), Mickey Mantle (21 homers in 1956), Luke Voit (20 in 2020) and Tino Martinez (20 in 1997).
It's the second time in Judge’s career that he's the first player in the majors to reach 20 homers in a season, a feat he first accomplished in his rookie season in 2017 (when he finished with 57 homers). The only other players in Yankees history to be the first in baseball to hit 20 homers in a season twice were Ruth (seven times), Joe DiMaggio (twice) and Mantle (twice).
In Judge’s career, the Yankees have gone 118-41 when he homers. Since 2020, the Yankees are 46-12 when he homers. This year, the Yankees are 13-4 in games that include a Judge home run.
